Maybe you've already tried to stop smoking before. Maybe you have used the nicotine patches, the nicotine gum, the inhalers, or even the pills. You may even have gone into counseling, used group programs, or maybe you attempted to tough it out and go "cold turkey."

 

One of my very favorite authors, Mark Twain, once wrote: "It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times." The fact is that eighty percent of smokers who attempt to quit smoking without using an appropriate cessation program will eventually relapse (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies).

 

As an ex-one pack a day smoker, I was long part of those eighty percent. Willpower and cold turkey used to work for a while, until I eventually reverted to the same exact behavior, over and over again.

 

The subconscious battle

 

One part of you knows you should stop smoking for your health and survival, yet another part of you simply won’t let you. The part of you that doesn’t let you quit is your subconscious mind, the one that drives all your beliefs, motivations and self-limitations. Problem is, you can’t change your subconscious patterns by force or will power. 

 

All change happens at the subconscious level and the good news is, it can happen in an instant. Once you make the decision to quit, you have already taken the hardest step. Hypnotherapy will simply help you tap into the powerful resources of your subconscious mind to catch up with your conscious decision to quit.

 

How and why hypnosis can help you quit smoking

 

Hypnosis was found to be more than twice as effective as quitting "cold turkey," and over three times as effective as nicotine replacement therapy, according to a a study presented October 22, 2007 at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians. According to an independent University of Washington School of Medicine study, hypnotherapy has a 90.6% success rate helping smokers quit. Last but not least, the prestigious American Medical Association now recognizes that using hypnosis in counseling sessions is one of the most powerful tools to break the nicotine habit.

 

The reason it’s easier to quit smoking with hypnosis is that we transfer the pleasure derived from smoking to a healthier new habit. This is why many people find they do not gain any unwanted weight or have other problems associated with kicking the habit. The only side effects I personnally experienced quitting smoking with hypnosis were increased health and freedom.

 

If you are considering hypnosis to quit smoking, the first step is to make sure you are choosing to quit for yourself. Hypnotherapy is most effective if you really want to quit. If you are doing it because you think you should or because a friend or a family member is pushing you, you may not get the results you're expecting.

 

Your health is the most precious thing you have. Safeguard it by starting your plan to become smoke free. With The Change Method's cessation program, you will learn how to control your thoughts of smoking and learn to desensitize the need to ever have another cigarette again. If you are one of the 9 out of 10 smokers that would stop if you knew how, you now have a powerful and proven way to help you quit that neutralizes the desire to smoke and frees you from the pangs of withdrawal.