If Smoking Hypnosis Didn’t Work for You Give it Another Chance

 

If you’ve used hypnosis to quit smoking but it didn’t work for you, there could be a number of reasons why it didn’t and why the time may be right now to take another go.

Hypnosis is not a magic “pill” for smoking cessation. While it would be wonderful to pop a pill into our mouths so we never smoked again no such remedy exists. The pharmaceutical companies are pouring millions into coming up with a pill but so far the results have been less than stellar and there are serious side-effects with those on the market at the moment.

Besides, the only method that attacks the habit of smoking is hypnosis and I’m not interested in quick hit temporary wonders where the person is smoking again within a year or two – been there, done that!

So if hypnosis wasn’t successful for you let’s look at why that could have been going on,  and how to determine if things are different enough now you should consider the option again.

Where You Really Ready?

I wrote a blog post recently titled “How to Know if Your are Ready to Quit Smoking” where I covered a self-check assessment of whether the timing was right for a person to stop smoking.

The article discussed quitting for the right reasons – that is for yourself and not somebody else –  approaching it with the right attitude, a sense of urgency and commitment, and avoiding tackling your smoking habit during a stressful and anxious time in your life. You can read the article here.

If you can answer truthfully at the end of the assessment you really were not ready to quit when you did last time then it’s a strong indicator there may have been more at work to sabotage your attempt than hypnosis itself.

Competency of the Therapist:

While it seems convenient to blame somebody else if our results aren’t what we expect sometimes the professional we rely on IS at fault. I’m not here to cast dispersions on fellow therapeutic hypnotists but certainly smoking cessation is a specialized hypnosis skill and why I chose to receive specialized training and for it to be a primary focus of my hypnosis practice.

It ‘s also tough for a hypnotist who has never smoked to understand the concerns and challenges of a smoker as a person rather than a textbook case. If the professional therapist you chose didn’t seem to connect or impact your issue then it could be because their lack of first-hand knowledge of smoking was a barrier. As an ex-smoker myself when I quit using hypnosis I sought out the help of an experienced therapist who was also an ex-smoker.

Lack of Support:

Despite what the marketing literature says for whatever service or method you’ve chosen to use – including hypnosis –  quitting cigarettes can be tough for some people. I’ve had clients who walk in a smoker and walk out a non-smoker after one session and who never feel the craving for a cigarette again. But this isn’t the case for everybody I see.

Maybe you hid your habit and so coming out to friends and announcing your decision to quit and soliciting support wasn’t an option.  Or there may have been other circumstances contributing to you going it alone to make the journey difficult if you were struggling with cravings and the habit. I’ve had many instances where a client wanted to quit but their partner didn’t and this is the toughest situation to overcome.  If that was your predicament understand you were not getting the support you needed to help you through any rough patches you met.

You DO need the support of family and friends.

Conclusion:

There are a varied number of reasons why the timing may have been wrong when you quit smoking using hypnosis before and weren’t successful. Take another look at that experience now through the lens of the information I’ve just shared with you.

If you can relate to any of these reasons I’ve given today as being at play before then maybe now is the time to reconsider hypnosis if you believe the time is right to stop smoking for your life.

If you already sense the time is right and want to learn more about my Stop Smoking Hypnosis programs then check out my web site where I answer a lot more questions and provide more details or you can send me an email or call me using the contact information below.

 

Erika Slater, CH
Director
Free At Last Hypnosis