Smoking cessation
Before starting the smoking cessation session I make sure the client is highly motivated (for her own sake). I would screen out those who wish to give up smoking for their spouse, boss, or whatever.
Session one:
One of the first steps to any hypnotherapy intervention is to establish rapport by the hypnosis pretalk. Then I typically hypnotize the client twice giving appropriate ego strengthening and self confidence suggestions. Of course each time I hypnotize anyone I give suggestions for self hypnosis and hypnosis by me so each time they would go deeper and faster. Next I give them the four quadrant motivation questionnaire for smoking to fill up.
Session two:
I talk a little about tobacco. I like to use humor as a pattern interrupt for smoking. I say, “some hypnotherapist use aversion and and try to scare you from smoking.... Not me (big mischievous smile). You have heard of the dangers of tobacco smoke and how it gives you lung cancer and emphysema and heart attacks and generally makes you very unhealthy and I don't want to talk about such dangers since if those dangers had any effect on you would not be here. Further I don't want you to give up smoking just because smoking makes men impotent and the women so sexy..... I mean I want to kiss an ashtray full of that wonderful sweet aroma of stale tobacco.... MMMM... so inviting.... Honey smoke a couple more. I just love that perfume....What you may want to know is that there are lots of different stuff in tobacco smoke. Of course there is the nicotine and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide which give you that wonderful shortness of breath. But I am not going to talk about those things. Did you know that one of the components of tobacco smoke is methane. But I don’t know if you realize that methane is the main gaseous output of bovine digestion. You see I can say that since I was trained as a chemist and biochemist before I became a hypnotist. So I better translate that gobldy gook to plain English – cow farts. That’s right cow farts." I use my index and middle finger to look like the rear of a cow and place a cigarette and say "moo!"
I now guide them into a trance and use one of smoking cessation scripts. I next give suggestions of alternative rituals which can replace their current rituals of taking the cigarette out of the pack and lighting it. I would suggest they replace the act of smoking a cigarette with a similar experience of taking a deep, comfortable health giving breath. The breath would be held in for a few seconds and then let out slowly through the mouth. I suggest they feel the relaxation.
Finally before bringing them out I would give the post-hypnotic suggestion that they could return into a trance very easily and quickly by closing their eyes, taking a deep breath, holding, letting go through the mouth and then counting down from ten to one as they imagined they were descending some stairs.
I give them my smoking cessation self-hypnosis CD to listen to every night and morning for the next week and then once a day for the next twenty one days.