This is a short video blog discussing some of the scientific research regarding nicotine addiction.
References: Journal of Drug Issues 31(2), 325-394,2001
Nicotine as an Addictive Substance: A Critical Examination of the Basic Concepts and Empirical Evidence
There is now more emphasis on people to give up smoking than ever before. People who smoke cannot help but see the national campaigns that are designed to help smokers stop smoking.
Warnings about the risks of smoking cigarettes surround us and the accompanying risks are very well known. Smoking is actually the leading cause of preventable death in the UK. About 50% of smokers will die from a smoking related illness. The thing is, a lot of people have no idea that a hypnotic approach can really affect their life in a constructive way by helping them to get rid of smoking cigarettes for good. This life altering process can be done in as little as one 2 hour session with an experienced hypnotherapist, and proves to be a rather more efficient way of quitting smoking than any of the more conventional treatment options.
Hypnotherapy processes work by helping a person to take on new beliefs at every level of their mind thus helping you to take on a whole new way of thinking. It’s more useful to think of hypnosis less as something being done to you but more of teaching you a new kind of mindset at an unconscious level.
Many smokers cite stress as a factor in smoking, so smoke to cope with stress but end up being controlled by cigarettes. It follows that some of the most successful methods help the smoker to feel more empowered about situations in life and find new ways of coping with the stresses of life. Hypnotherapy also helps to break those associations that have been built up over time such as a cigarette with a coffee first thing in the morning or with a beer whilst out with friends.
You then become aware that you are no longer a smoker but take on a new identity of non-smoker, resulting in a reduction of powerful yearnings to smoke.
You will be supported by the hypnotherapist who will get a complete understanding of your cigarette smoking routines so as to be able to make it easier to stop.
This helps the hypnotherapist to develop an in-depth overview which could help to tailor the hypnotherapy process to your individual needs, ensuring it is more effective.
As reported by the New Scientist, that published the largest ever scientific comparison of ways to stop smoking tobacco, hypnosis is the most effective way of quitting smoking cigarettes.
It is obviously important that you are looking to give up cigarettes for yourself and not someone else. Without this, the process may be unproductive.
The more motivated you are, the easier it is for the hypnotherapist to help put you on the path of quitting cigarettes. When you stop smoking tobacco the advantages become obvious quite quickly, in fact you can start to notice changes in just a few days. You might notice how your breathing improves, your fitness levels increase and, of course, you smell better. Your lungs will benefit markedly as they will start to expel dangerous substances taken into the body through smoking cigarettes. Your adrenaline, blood pressure levels and heart beat should easily go back to ideal levels.
And it isn’t just you that benefits. Everyone you live with is no longer affected by your smoke.
New scientist research http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618450.700-how-one-in-five-have-given-up-smoking.html
Whilst watching some the TV programes about weight loss, I’ve noticed something interesting about the way people talk about their problem.
Instead of referring to the way they feel or behave in the first person (using”I”) there is a tendency to use the pronoun “you”.
Ah, but that’s just a matter of speech, right, we all do that. True, but if we look at what is actually going on, think of the differnce between saying: “I overeat when someone is mean to me” and “you overeat when someone is mean to you”.
The first sentence is owned and accepted as what I actually feel, whereas with the second sentence the feelings are projected onto the person being spoken to with the implication that “everyone does this, don’t they?” The person may be doing this as a coping mechanism for their feelings. They may be just too painful to accept or experience directly, so it can seem easier to project them onto someone else. Unfortunately, this can set up a whole host of presuppositions expecting agreement from the listener such as “this is natural human behaviour that we all do, so I have no control over it” and it can’t be or is very difficult to change. So, as well as being a hypnotic suggestion to the listener, the overeater is asking the person listening to join them in their belief system. It’s worth listening out for these as a therapist, and not letting one of these slip past or YOu(or do I mean I?) might inadvertently be joining your(my) clients system of beliefs instead of leading them to a more useful set of beliefs to achieve their goals.
The use of pronouns I, me, self and you are used in different contexts when referring to our identity and by working with reference to them, we can create shifts in how we see and experience ourselves in the world.
For therapists, wishing to learn how to, it will be taught on an IEMT practitioner course later this year.
Many people want goals to become reality in their future. However, one of the most powerful catalysts of change resides in the ability of clients to connect with what they have in the present.
One of my colleagues recently wrote about the dangers of making promises in the future and I couldn’t agree more.
Doing so, disconnects a person from useful abilities they have in the present and releases them from taking responsibility for their own lives. If as therapists, we start to promise magical solutions in a single session are we any different from the psychics who tell their clients not to worry, everything will be ok.
As agents of change, I think we have the responsibility to help clients to take the responsibility back and help them to be the creators of their own destiny.
The tools we have at our disposal to do that can help to connect clients to inner qualities that they may have overlooked before and find different kinds of solutions outside of their current way of thinking.
Welcome to this video blog that discusses the roles we play in different situations and the use of past life regression and metaphor in helping a person to behave in different ways.
It seems there are a lot of people who would like to make changes to their lives and realise that hypnotherapy or working with a therapist could help them. However, for many the reality of the financial cost means they are either left to sort the problems out themselves or are stuck with the problem.
There is a school of thought and evidence to suggest that the higher the cost, the more commitment and success a client has. However, that doesn’t help someone who for no fault of their own has to make the decision to buy food or pay the rent.
These are tough times after all.
As hypnotherapists in private practice, we are running a business and have a lot of expenses, so there is only so much we can do to help.
I have trialed the whole discount thing before and unfortunately only received enquiries from people who were less than serious, however, I’m going to offer this opportunity again.
So, if you would like to make some kind of change in your life, are committed and willing to put in some effort yourself, I am offering hourly appointments, one day a week at a clinic in Hendon or via skype at half my normal fee. That works out at £40 per session.
This is strictly first come, first served.
I am intending to trial this offer just for the month of April, to see the interest and feedback I receive.
Please note: this offer does not include stopping smoking sessions.
I found this interesting article today concerning research done in the USA suggesting that most smokers want to quit.
One interesting point concerning previous smokers who were successful in quitting smoking suggests that there was no magic bullet with regard to strategies for stopping but rather just a basic decision to quit. This seems to be the case in the vast majority of people who have given up smoking: making the decision 100% to quit and then acting on that decision.
Our job as hypnotherapists in a lot of ways is to help people come to that decision on all levels of their being and help them access the skills necessary to act on that decision.
You can take a look at the article here:
http://www.wellnessindiana.org/index.php/gallup-poll-most-smokers-want-to-quit/
It’s been a couple of months in the making, but the new design of the website is finally up and running. There’s some fresh new content, primarily on the testimonial page including audio/videos.
It probably still needs some tweaking here and there so if anyone fancies giving me any feedback on the site, it’s very much appreciated
Regards
James
Weight loss before ChristmasShould I just wait until the new year to get in shape by making a new year’s resolution or should I start now?
That festive time of year is nearly upon us, when we all have the opportunity to overindulge. For many, this can be a daunting time of year that is accompanied by feelings of guilt and wondering if you can ever achieve that ideal physique.
Oh, I’ll just start dieting when the new year comes, many may say.
Attempting a weight loss programme before Christmas might seem crazy. That would be true if we were starting a diet and were attempting rapid weight loss. However, using hypnosis for weight loss is a long-term solution to weight control and works by permanently changing your relationship with food, addressing other reasons for over-eating and lack of motivation that often have nothing to do with food.
In my experience as a weight loss consultant, I have found that there may be many reasons apart from habit, that people over-eat that are often emotional.i.e using food as a substitute for something else. There can often be underlying and very convincing reasons to stay overweight, that is usually unconscious. I recently had a client who, when she was a teenager suffered embarrasment by being excluded by the other schoolchildren for being too skinny. So, at that point, a new belief was formed for her that generalised out into her life causing her to gain weight. Using hypnosis and regression techniques we can update those understandings for clients to achieve the changes they want.
Well, it depends what you want.
If you want rapid weight loss before Christmas, go on a diet, but be aware that you run the risk of yo-yo dieting and potential long-term weight gain. However, if you’d like to change your relationship with food forever, there’s no time like the present to do something different
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