Stop Smoking With Hypnosis?

[Barry]

Hi

I've heard different outcomes with regards to stopping smoking using the technique of Hypnosis. Could someone please let me know why Hypnosis works for some people and not for others? Is it the Practitioner or the client? i was under the impression that Hypnosis was based on principles of the mind so i thought it would work every time.

I'm just curious because I want to persue a career in NLP and Hypnotherapy.
Thanks:)
Barry

[Don]

The key, I believe, is that every person's mind is different. Therefore, what will work for one person may or may not work for someone else.

Working with prerecorded tapes or CDs has a lower effectiveness rate because not everyone will feel the appeal of any particular induction and suggestion set.

Working with groups may have a higher success rate, but although I've seen comparisons between individual smoking cessation therapy and group events, I've never seen comparisons between groups and recordings.

Individual work has a very high success rate. The reason for this is very simple:

Before beginning the actual trance/suggestion work, a practitioner should have an in-depth interview with the client. During this interview it is determined if the client really wants to quit smoking. If he or she really wants to quit, hypnotherapy gives the keys to unlocking success. If the person does not really want to quit, then success is unlikely with any methodology and a wise hypnotherapist would not accept the person as a client for this purpose.

The mind is far more complex than you might think. Your question implies a simple equations: person consciously believes s/he wants to quit then hypnosis makes them quit. First, hypnosis doesn't make a person do anything. It simply gives the tools to make a person change from being a smoker into being a non-smoker in a way that is powerful and practically instantaneous.

The unconscious, however, often has a hidden agenda. This is technically called a "secondary benefit." If the unconscious still believes that there is some secondary benefit to smoking, and this is not resolved by the hypnotherapist, the client will return to or continue smoking.

Smoking cessation with hypnotherapy is powerful and successful, but it is not as "push-button" as some people think. It takes a trained hypnotherapist to do a good job every time.

I have one friend, a retired hypnotherapist, who told me that his smoking cessation success rate was 100%. While that is possible, I would never claim that. No doctor, lawyer, dentist, psychologist, or plumber is always 100% successful.

With training and practice, however, you can help people quickly and effectively change their behaviors.

[Barry]

Hi don

Thanks for the reply - very helpful. :) What does your friend do differently compared to other hypnotherapists that results in a 100% success rate?

barry

[Don]

Hi, Barry.

First, I have to put that in the past tense because he is now retired.

He didn't sell tapes or CDs. He didn't lead groups.

He only took individual clients. He would do an interview with them to make sure that they were ready to really stop smoking. If they were, he knew that hypnosis would help them. So he would take them on as clients and be successful with them.

If they weren't ready, he would discuss that with them, too. Usually they had other issues and he offered to help them with those issues first and discover if they were likely candidates for smoking cessation through hypnotherapy again later. He often got clients for work on other issues. When a client was ready to stop smoking as a fundamental issue in his/her life, he was able to do so.