Stopping Smoking; Does It Have to be Hard?

When we have been doing something a long time, the idea of no longer doing it can seem daunting. 

How difficult we find stopping smoking largely comes down to mindset, that is the things we tell ourselves will happen if we do, how we will cope, the dread of withdrawal symptoms and cravings.  Statements we make about our identity in relation to smoking are particularly powerful; “I’m addicted to it”, “I’m a smoker”, “I don’t have any willpower.”   

When we make such statements, we have made smoking a part of us.  One of the aims of stop smoking hypnotherapy, is to remove the habit from our identity.   

Smoking and Addiction 

Smoking is often referred to as an addiction but the jury is out on this.   My understanding is that smoking does not fall into this category.  The thinking behind this is that a person who is addicted to a substance has to ‘top up’ levels of the particular substance.  Someone who is addicted to alcohol for example may drink first thing in the morning because they have been effectively ‘fasting’ during the night.  Whilst a smoker may smoke first thing in the morning, my understanding is that it is not to top up levels of nicotine in the system but rather through force of habit. 

This might come as a relief to you.  It is better to think of smoking as a habit and all the indications are that that is exactly what it is.  A smoker creates a habit by repeatedly pairing the act of smoking with something else.  This could be things like drinking coffee, speaking on the phone, when socialising and when taking a break.  Like any habit, when something is repeated enough times, the unconscious learns what you want, takes over and prompts you at those times to smoke.   

Because of this and because hypnotherapy is very much directed at the unconscious, it is a great method for breaking the smoking habit.  When this is paired with preparation before hypnotherapy treatment to begin breaking up the habit, we are re-training the unconscious that you want something different.  Beginning therefore to think of smoking as a habit rather than an addiction will serve you well as you move towards becoming a non-smoker. 

Smoking is Neutral  

What I mean by this is that smoking doesn’t make anything better.  Smoking can be endowed with all sorts of magical abilities like relaxing us and helping us focus.  In fact, nicotine is a stimulant.  What smoking does do is create a reason to take some time out from what we were doing, especially if it is something stressful, by either taking us away from it completely for a break or by dividing our attention, distracting us and changing our state.  We also breathe more deeply and whilst we are inhaling noxious substances, we are engaging the mechanisms that contribute to greater calmness. 

The truth is that numerous people are able to relax and focus without smoking.  These are just associations we have made through creating the habit in the way described above.  Once these associations are broken for you through hypnotherapy, you too will be able to learn to relax and focus in the way you want to.  

Human Emotional Needs 

It is said that as humans if our emotional needs are met, we are able to function well in life.  Sometimes, we can have a need that is not being satisfied such as feeling safe, having a sense of autonomy or emotional intimacy.  The Human Givens Institute has identified nine of these.   

If someone who wants to give up smoking has an emotional need that is not being met, this might contribute to them finding it more difficult to stop smoking, if smoking is being used to mask this need, for example.  As a therapist, I will often recognise this in a client or ask questions to check this out so I can design their treatment accordingly. 

You Were Once a Non-Smoker 

When people tell me they don’t know how they will be able to do certain things without smoking, I remind them that there was a time when they did all sorts of things without it.  You may find life challenging now but childhood is a time of enormous learning and growth, dealing with the unknown and being exposed to all sorts of new activities both physical and emotional that demanded responses and decisions.  However that may have been for us, we navigated those times without smoking. 

Sometimes I will glean from a client a memorable time in childhood and build on this to assist them in their quest to easily stop smoking.  It is interesting to me to observe how a person will noticeably go deeper into in hypnosis when recalling and reliving such a time or times.  It can be very powerful to remember how free you were without those toxic substances. 

The Question of Cravings 

My desire for anyone who wants to stop smoking is that they be determined to do so.  It needs to be the right time for you and when I speak to someone on the phone beforehand, I will want to be satisfied myself that it sounds like the right time.  People generally have compelling reasons to stop smoking and your therapist will build on these so they become strong motivating factors. 

It is not possible for any therapist to guarantee that you won’t have any withdrawal symptoms or periods of cravings, but it is my belief that making what I refer to as a ‘’gentle decision” - that your desire to be a non-smoker will just flow over you - makes it less likely that you will experience these to any great extent.  Dealing with all the triggers for smoking, dissociating the smoking behaviour from your identity, building your resources and enhancing your reasons for wanting to stop will give you a strong treatment.  

Smoking and Willpower 

There are any number of ways that people stop smoking and using willpower might be one of them.  I have often heard people who have done this say that they would still like to smoke however.   

With hypnotherapy, willpower doesn’t come into it.  Willpower is a conscious mind attribute.  With hypnotherapy, we are working with your powerful unconscious mind to install the changes with a view to your becoming a natural non-smoker for whom smoking is no longer a part of your identity.  So, if one of your beliefs is that you do not have any willpower, rest assured, with hypnotherapy it is not needed. 

The main thing to acknowledge if you want to stop smoking is that you are making a life-affirming decision for yourself.  Yes, there is a habit to break.  Yes, you may have some unhelpful beliefs around what it will mean to give up and what you might experience but a strong determination, the belief that it is the right time for you to do it coupled with a strong treatment approach can ease your transition.