If it were easy to quit smoking, the quit smoking industry would not be the multi-billion dollar industry that it is and the tobacco industry would be much smaller. Nearly every smoker wants an easy path to success in quitting smoking.
John is such a smoker. When he came to me, he had been smoking since he was 14 and he was now in his late 60s. He smoked 2 packs of cigarettes per day, at that time about $10 per day in cigarettes. At 67 he was not so worried about building a fortune as he was about holding on to some of his money during his retirement years. He also wanted to feel better. He wanted to feel better physically and he wanted to feel better about himself, because cigarettes were defeating him.
Yvonne had tried the patches and gum on numerous occasions. In coming for hypnosis she figured “what do I have to lose?” She wanted to stop because cigarette prices were climbing around her home in Maryland and at 54 she hated what they were doing to her health. She didn’t mention it but I think she was unhappy at what cigarettes were doing to her appearance as well. It was a big step for her to come for hypnosis as she had never tried anything like that before.
Jody is an amazing story. She heard about hypnosis at a business networking meeting. To say she had her doubts would be to put it mildly. Still, hearing about it from week to week, she became curious. She is a young mom with 2 kids who were old enough to nag her about smoking on the one hand, and impressionable enough to absorb her example on the other. She works in finance, so it also bugged her to keep on wasting money on cigarettes, as raising 2 kids was expensive. Living in New York, cigarette prices are as much as double what they are in other places, so she could not defend her waste of money even to herself. The money was bad enough, but then she noticed that her energy was declining and she was far too young to waste her energy on cigarettes.
Jody was honestly shocked when she walked out of the office. She felt no real need for a cigarette. She wondered what would happen since I had warned her that occasional but manageable cravings could develop. She felt added security for she knew that she could come back for additional sessions as needed. Still, she was a source of amazement to her kids, her boyfriend and her co-workers. She chose the option of waiting for them to notice rather than pointing it out as so many do. She came to hate the smell of smoke, yet after about 16 months smoke free, she found herself under pressure and responded from her distant after a few drinks at a funeral, and she found herself smoking again. Only an occasional cigarette, but wisely, she called for an appointment and after her session she is pleased to be more than 3 months smoke free.
Yvonne wrote to me recently to report that she has an occasional urge for a cigarette but is so thrilled that she has more than enough resistance to cigarettes and honestly finds the smell a bit repulsive. Still, she wants everyone to know that hypnosis works and she has been 13 months smoke free, saving thousands of dollars and seeing her health improve.
John has been smoke free for more than 5 years and he keeps on sending friends and family for hypnosis. One of his friends said, hey, if hypnosis works so well for smoking, what will it do for my weight? That was 70 pounds ago.
Hypnosis works so well because it operates at the level of the subconscious mind where decisions are really made. Jody, Yvonne and John each got individualized hypnosis sessions based on their unique life experiences and reasons for wishing to be finished with smoking forever. That is why it is my experience that the one-on-one hypnosis with a professional like me works way better than large group hypnosis like you get at the hotels from time-to-time. It is like the difference between putting on a one-size-fits-all garment and an outfit custom tailored to you. It is easy to know which is going to work better. Some people get great results from hotel hypnosis, but your best results will come from one-on-one hypnosis customized to you.