So … how effective is hypnosis for quitting smoking? Let’s get some context here and compare common smoking cessation methods.

Willpower

This can take a few different forms, but most of them have a low percentage of success. People who try to quit cold turkey have a 4% to 7% rate of success. People who try to do it with willpower, but not necessarily cold turkey (avoiding triggers, slowly weaning themselves off, etc) have an 8% to 11% success rate. Not great.

Nicotine replacement

This can be nicotine gum, patches, sprays, etc. Unfortunately, most of the studies of these forms of therapy don’t show much better results than plain old willpower. Research shows success rates anywhere from 3% to 11%. The only studies that have higher percentages are studies funded by the companies that make those products. Even then, they tend to oversell. As I write this article, I occasionally see ads on YouTube promoting nicotine gum that gives you a 150% chance to quit smoking. Which sounds impressive, until you realize 150% of the willpower rates are ultimately still less than 15%. Nice marketing, but not great results.

Acupuncture

It’s actually very difficult to find hard numbers relating to the success rate for acupuncture for smoking. However, it can definitely help lessen cravings and anxiety (if that’s a trigger for you). Acupuncture can’t change your habits, but it can help you relax and let go of the stress, if you’re using smoking as a coping mechanism. At the very least, acupuncture can help, though its effectiveness depends highly on the subject.

Laser therapy

This is based on the same principles as acupuncture. Unfortunately, it’s just as difficult to find hard numbers. To give one example, though, a paper from 2008 published in the Journal of Chinese Medicine showed a 55% success rate for subjects of laser therapy, 6 months after the treatment. Which is roughly even odds, but still a lot better than nicotine replacement or willpower.

Cognitive behavioural therapy

This is like willpower, but with some actual planning and strategy with a professional psychologist or counsellor. Alone, CBT doesn’t improve the odds of quitting much. However, it can be much more effective as part of a larger strategy, like CBT plus acupuncture, or CBT plus medication. Speaking of which …

Medication

Most quit-smoking medications, like Bupropion and Wellbutrin, are actually anti-depression medications. In the same way that acupuncture can lessen cravings by dealing with pain, tension, and anxiety, most quit-smoking medications deal with the habit by attempting to lessen cravings in the same way. Assuming your triggers for the habit are actually associated with those sensations, drugs can certainly help. They also come with a risk of side-effects, though. A lot of clients who come to me do so out of concern for those side effects … or because they’ve tried those medications and experienced those side effects already.

Hypnotherapy

The best thing about hypnosis for quitting smoking is that it deals with almost everything the other therapies do, but without the side effects. You can directly target the habits and compulsive negative behaviour, so the idea is you need about as much willpower to not smoke as any other non-smokers (which is to say, next to zero). As a bonus, hypnosis even without the therapy is a natural pain and anxiety reliever. And many hypnotherapists, myself included, incorporate elements of CBT as appropriate anyway, because you still need to plan and change if you’re going to be a non-smoker.

And most importantly, the success rate also jumps. While the odds of quitting after only one session is just 25%, smoking cessation programs that are 3 or more sessions give a success rate between 70% and 92% for at least 3 years or more, depending on the study. Even on the conservative result of 70%, that’s the best result of all of the above, and most studies on average give a result percentage in the high 80’s. To improve results even more, it can be combined with CBT, acupuncture, or even just having an accountability partner if you’re serious.

In Closing …

Hypnotherapy is also very highly tailored to your specific situation, unless you’re seeing what I like to refer to as a “scriptnotist”. But even then the success rate is fairly impressive (see the popularity of group hypnosis sessions). Personally, I always do free consultations by phone, or even by email, so I can get some idea where the client is coming from and make sure it’s a good fit. If you have questions about hypnosis for quitting smoking, or anything else, give me a call at (403) 630-3166, contact me here, or email me at chrisbarryhypnosis@gmail.com.

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Hypnosis is NOT mind control.

Hypnosis can be presented on stage or in movies in a way that makes it look like someone is controlling someone else. Even in my own demonstrations in public, I’ve run into this misunderstanding. However, as deep as someone goes, they are still in control. They are still conscious and won’t do anything that they wouldn’t do in their normal waking state. I like to give the example that if I tell someone in hypnosis that they’re going to write me a blank cheque, they’re not going to do it.

Hypnosis is NOT sleep.

Sometimes it seems like a person is in a strange sort of sleep state. Even when doing instant and rapid inductions, a hypnotist will use the word “sleep” like a command. The only reason we do that, however, is simply because the subconscious interprets that word in a way that we can utilize. You aren’t actually asleep or unconscious …. You can hear and remember and understand every word being said. In some ways, you’re more awake and focused than normally.

Hypnosis is NOT only for weak-minded people.

This is a common misconception born of the whole “hypnosis is mind-control” myth. Truthfully, it takes no special skill to “resist” hypnosis … anyone who doesn’t want to be hypnotized isn’t going to be. On the contrary, it takes someone with more control, focus, and intelligence to be hypnotized. Studies have shown there is actually a correlation between intelligence and hypnotizability.

Hypnosis is NOT going to make you reveal secrets.

This is a funny question I get now and then, and it goes back to the original idea that hypnosis isn’t mind control. In fact, it’s been a long-standing principle of hypnosis since the early 1800’s that hypnosis is something the subject is guided in doing themselves, as opposed to something a hypnotist does to them. If you aren’t likely to give me the PIN to your credit card in a normal waking state, you won’t do it in hypnosis.

Hypnosis is NOT a state you can get stuck in..

Occasionally, people have trouble coming out of hypnosis. It’s not because they’re stuck, it’s because they’re enjoying themselves so much they don’t want to come back out. But they still come out eventually. No one has ever gotten “stuck” in hypnosis. Which is good, because hypnosis is a regularly occurring, natural state. People would randomly trance out and never come back if that were the case.

In Closing …

As I write this article, I’m coming off a string of exhibition shows where I am routinely told by showgoers that hypnosis is “terrifying”. I hope I’ve taken some of the terror out of it. Most of the people who know hypnosis is good are the people who have tried it, which means either we need to improve people’s understanding, or get more people to experience it. If you have any questions about how it can help, give me a call at (403) 630-3166, contact me here, or email me at chrisbarryhypnosis@gmail.com.

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Hypnosis is the bypassing of your conscious mind and the accessing of your subconscious mind.

At first this sounds like the scary things you see in movies, but this actually happens all the time. Your conscious mental processes get “bypassed” any time something happens which your conscious mind is less equipped to deal with than your subconscious. Since your conscious mind is very analytical and, well, slow, it tends to deal poorly with heightened emotional states, surprise and shock, repetition, confusion, and any number of other things that your subconscious deals with instinctively.

Many hypnosis inductions are structured around these concepts, but they also happen in everyday life. Know anyone who has experienced “highway hypnosis”? How about someone who has developed a phobia from a traumatic experience, like someone in an accident suddenly developing a fear of driving? That’s a hypnotic experience. A hypnotherapy just knows how to do it intentionally, rather than how you usually do it accidentally.

Hypnosis is your brain’s natural learning state.

Ever heard of the concept of moving from unconscious incompetence, to conscious incompetence, to conscious competence, to unconscious competence? This is the process of how your brain gets programmed to do things automatically, with less and less of your conscious thought. A good example is walking. Look at a baby consciously trying to walk for the first time. Imagine if we took that much effort to do anything, ever. Instead, your brain delegates things like that to your subconscious.

Now, remember how I said hypnosis is the bypass of your critical mind? You don’t really develop one of those until you are 8 or 9 years old. Which is good, because you have a ton of learning to do as a youngster. As you get older, that critical, analytical part of your mind starts to develop and judge your life experiences through the perspective of your previous programming. You continue to learn, but you don’t accept anything that doesn’t get past your conscious mind. That’s why I can tell you I’m Batman and you don’t believe me, but someone in hypnosis on a stage show has no problem believing they’re Elvis. Logically, that makes no sense. But if the part of your mind responsible for logic isn’t paying attention … well, there’s a lot of people out there with some pretty crazy beliefs.

Hypnosis is your brain’s natural problem-solving state.

Your mind has several dreams over the course of a night, whether you remember them or not. Why? Because while the conscious mind sleeps, your subconscious is still actively processing and organizing the experiences of the day. Sometimes you’ll have a recurring dream if there’s been an especially impactful time in your life. If it’s particularly emotional, stressful, or traumatic, the dream may be quite vivid. Sometimes answers to problems can come to you in dreams. Sometimes it can simply be inspiration.

When your conscious mind forgoes all external stimulus, the mind tends to start making some up. This happens when you’re dreaming as well as it happens in hypnosis. In hypnosis, the process can be a little more directed, but much like in dreams, the end result can be that simply taking you into the state has the effect of you overcoming some internal block on your own, even without the therapist directing you. And it helps that your subconscious is the intuitive, creative part of your mind. Being in hypnosis is as natural as dreaming … after all, we’re simply triggering the same processes. A really good hypnotic subject is often referred to as a somnambulist, and the deeper states of hypnosis as somnambulism, which are terms which used to refer to what we now call sleepwalking. There are many parallels because they are very closely related, and serve similar purposes.

In Closing …

I can give more points and definitions, but I want to be brief here and hopefully this helps to show how hypnosis is powerful in hypnotherapy. If we’re accessing your natural learning state, then positive change becomes much easier, because if you can learn a new behaviour (and even unlearn an old one), then suddenly a whole new world of understanding opens up to you and you no longer need to be help back by internal limitations. As I often say, most of my hypnotherapy work involves helping people get more control over their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, so if there’s something holding you back, like a limiting belief, or a phobia, or an emotion, or even just overactive or negative thoughts, talk to me right away and we’ll see how the work of hypnotherapy can help you specifically.

Take care, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind!

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Chris Barry is offering this exciting workshop at a discounted rate to help the HSA in our 50th Anniversary Membership Drive, as well as an early bird discount that expires February 25th.

Description

The purpose of this workshop is to teach the basic framework for impromptu hypnosis. This can be used for street performances or just to be able to give basic demonstrations with whoever is interested when you mention you’re a hypnotist in random conversation. This will be excellent for:

• anyone with street performance experience who wishes to add hypnosis to their repertoire
• anyone who is a practicing clinical hypnotist who wants to be able to do basic demonstrations for people in a casual setting
• anyone who wants to know how this whole “street hypnosis” thing works.

This workshop is 2 full days and focuses on practicing a basic framework for impromptu hypnosis demonstrations from start to finish.

Topics Covered:

• approaches
• building rapport quickly
• set pieces
• drilling different inductions
• handling unexpected situations or responses
• safety
• personalizing your routine
• subject selection
• hypnosis theory
• and lots and lots of practice. 

Cost:

Early bird price: $250 ($200 for HSA members)

After Feb 25th: $300 ($250 for HSA members)

 

For more information or to register, please go to the Alberta Hypnosis Society of Alberta

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