A habit is simply an automatic way of responding to a given stimulus – an automatic reflex. Usually a positive experience has become associated with a particular action; this is nearly ALWAYS a reduction in stress, anxiety, emotional distress, agitation or boredom/restlessness – and a consequent feeling of relief. Sometimes pleasure, rather than lowering of stress, is the dominant associated emotion.

Negative behavioural habits are nearly always associated with lowering stress (self-soothing) and/or pleasure.

Triggers for negative habitual behaviour are usually agitation, boredom, uneasiness, and emotional distress, mild or medium levels of anxiety or stress – or sometimes simply not getting sufficient pleasure and satisfaction from other areas of our life.

The subconscious mind is programmed by society to know that the use of tobacco (smoking or chewing it) is not healthy and is undesirable behaviour; therefore, it accepts the fact that use of tobacco is a disorder. So, how to quit smoking with the help of hypnotherapy? While the client is in a hypnotic state, the therapist programs the client’s subconscious mind to automatically link anything the client does which perpetuates this disorder (use of tobacco) to the client’s past emotional feelings of sadness. For instance, a client may have experienced sadness as a child when his puppy dog ran away from home. The act of perpetuating the client’s disorder (smoking a cigarette) causes the client to feel as sad as he was when he was a child, and his puppy dog ran away from home. The result of this method causes the client to change his behaviour. The act of smoking a cigarette or chewing tobacco no longer is a pleasure for the client. Indeed, it brings on a mild state of sadness which can only be corrected when the client chooses to stop the behaviour which perpetuates his disorder (smoking or chewing tobacco).

Conversely, with use of hypnotic regression and neurolinguistic programming, the client is regressed back to times which were the happiest he experienced. The emotional state of happiness is then neurolinguistically linked to the client’s act of refusing to smoke or chew tobacco. Therefore, every time the client chooses to not use tobacco; he is filled with the feelings of happiness and joy from his past experiences. The client now derives pleasure by merely doing what he should be doing to eliminate his disorder.

Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation incorporates stress relief to promote successful tobacco use cessation. Immediately after our clients have completed our hypnotherapy session, they are in a state of total relaxation, free from stress and stress induced pain such as headaches and muscle pain. They feel relieved of negative issues in their life which can only be remedied with forgiveness. After the session, many of our clients are in a state of mind where they realize they have a fresh start in life and may recreate their life to become what they want to be in a most wholesome and healthy manner (which includes not using tobacco products). This is an excellent mental platform on which to stand when eliminating addictive and habitual use of tobacco from one’s behaviour.