"Change by hypnosis" |
“Forty years ago, I was hypnotized into believing Smoking was sexy and sophisticated. Thirty-
eight years later I had to get hypnotized to quit smoking. Now I want you to make my friend quit
smoking.”
The voice on the phone went on to explain that she refuses to have anything to do with anyone who is
still smokes because they are too inconvenient to be around.
“Their habit dominates everything we do. To continue a conversation with a smoker, I have to
follow them out to the garage, or into the rain. I once trotted almost a mile through an airport
behind a friend trying to find a place to smoke.
“And they smell bad. And I can’t stand watching another friend die of cancer.
“So, fix my friend, Kate, will you? I miss her!”
It’s hard to convince an ex-client that hypnosis will not work for every smoker. Rita wanted to pay for Kate’
s sessions as a gift, and she was not happy when I told her that hypnosis would not cure her friend of
smoking if Kate didn’t really want to quit.
Hypnosis works wonders, but it's not a magic bullet that will make someone quit who doesn’t really want
to quit. A lot of people would like to quit but not enough to give up cigarettes. These people will override
hypnosis and will be back to smoking in a couple days.
Successful Quitters have certain characteristics:
They are highly dissatisfied with themselves because they smoke.
They feel “controlled” by cigarettes and hate it.
They are very conscious of how cigarettes damage them socially, physically, and economically.
They analyze, plan, and invest effort to overcome any obstacles to quitting.
They know they aren’t “giving up” anything but poison.
They believe the rewards are worth it.
Everyone knows about the “killers” already:
Cancer, emphysema, and heart disease just aren’t worth mentioning, anymore. Every smoker knows
about them and still smokes, so there is no point in reminding them. More smokers are more worried
about weight gain than about cancer.
Few smokers realize they were HYPNOTIZED into smoking.
Cigarette smoking is one of the most terrifying examples of how our minds can be manipulated. In terms
of destructiveness to human life and health, cigarettes have done more damage than Hitler and all his
predecessors.
Every single natural instinct rebels violently against sucking smoke into the lungs. The dizziness,
coughing, nausea, burning eyes, tongue, and lungs from the first cigarette, and even the first pack, are
physical protests that are hard to ignore.
Yet, at one point, the advertising media convinced almost half the adult population that smoking was
desirable and they did it BY BYPASSING THE CRITICAL MIND AND ENGAGING THE IMAGINATION to associate
smoking with pleasing things and ideas.
That’s hypnosis.
Smokers were persuaded to destroy their health and to fork over ever increasing amounts of money for
the privilege. The persuasion techniques kept becoming more hypnotic and insistent and the smokers
defended their habits while they coughed and hacked.
And now, the gullible have latched on the word “addiction”…
Cigarettes create habituation and the power of habits should not be underrated, but smoking is not an
addiction. Yet, with the media saying nicotine is addictive, many people have convinced themselves that
they can’t quit.
An addictive substance is compatible with the body’s biochemistry in some way and causes great physical
distress when it is removed. The METHOD OF INGESTION IS UNIMPORTANT; the body needs the substance
however it can get it. Withdrawal requires gradual elimination by substituting a non-addictive substance
under supervision and long term follow-up.
Habits are ritualized behavior patterns that become attached to routine activities. Removal causes anxiety
and depression, which are stress symptoms. With habits, the METHOD OF INGESTION IS VERY IMPORTANT
(which is why nicotine patches and gum have a low success rate) and the most effective treatment is
“cold turkey”. No substitute substance can replace a behavior pattern.
Defense mechanisms, obsessive thoughts, and stress are psychological reactions. The discomfort is in the
mind, not the body. Hypnosis is the least expensive and fastest way of relieving psychological
discomfort.
One of the reasons why smoking is so difficult to eradicate is because it is human nature to hate to admit
we’ve been “HAD”, but that’s exactly what the advertising media did and is still doing in portraying
smoking as a desirable behavior.
Rita asked if she could buy the new SMOKEOUT CDs for her friend. We agreed that might be a
reasonable alternative. The SMOKEOUT CDs provide two hypnosis sessions: “Get Ready to Quit” and
“Done with Smoking”. If Kate is willing to invest the time to follow the written instructions and listen to
the CD’s as required, she can quit on her own. She can choose when to start and be free of any pressure
or expectations. At the same time, Rita can show her friend how much she cares and how much Kate’s
smoking worries her.
To find out more about the SMOKEOUT CDs, click here.
| "What if Smoking is NOT an Addiction?" |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Hypnosis Change Tools Weight Loss Articles smoking stress management public speaking sports performance Phobias Self Confidence sales performance Memory and test taking Chronic pain Destructive habits Health sexual performance self hypnosis Depression Hypertension Insomnia Newsletter Scheduled events |