It can be said that we’re all natural born non-smokers, and smoking is a temporary habit that will end at some point. It’s the individual’s choice whether this ends at the grave or in choosing to improve your life and free yourself.
Stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health and increase your life expectancy.
There are a number of therapies available to help people quit this terrifically addictive and available habit including NHS support, nicotine patches, Allan Carr’s group sessions, Hypnotherapy, reiki, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and the list goes on.
The benefits of becoming a Nonsmoker are vast such as
· Becoming Healthier,
· Having more energy,
· Having a greater feeling of control in life,
· Being able to us your disposable cash for positive purposes,
· Have more time,
· Feel really good for your achievement,
· Care and value for You more,
· Breathing life in a new vibrant way,
· Seeing smoking for what it really is.
Habitual behaviour is often a comfortable way of being as it can provide us with a sense of security especially if our lives are particularly fraught or unpredictable. As a Hypnotherapist who helps people become Nonsmokers, often people will talk about their habit as a friend that’s always there for them. I guess there’s truth in that as they are always available and can provide that stable comfort. However, if I had a friend who I had to pay lots of money to who was damaging my health and was a mass murderer, the incentive to be with him would have to be pretty strong. And the addiction is o very strong, otherwise everyone would quit with ease.
As a therapist, I seek to allow the transition from Smoker to Nonsmoker to be as easy as possible and to feel the psychological rewards from new wanted ways of being. I use a number of techniques such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming as well as the main focus being on Hypnotherapy. It’s an absolute must for people to really want to stop as if the desire is not there, then change cannot happen. You can’t make people do something they do not want to do.
I find my approach to be very effective and I hope that the people I see choose to book with me as they feel that the approach fits with them.
Many continue to be stuck in the smoking cycle for reasons such as –
· No longer having the crutch of cigarettes,
· Facing a fear of not being able to control the habit,
· Facing a fear of coping when things are different,
· Fear of cravings,
· My daily routine will be altered,
· It’ll be hard to be around friends who continue to smoke.
Often try to avoid change as our minds keep us in our comfort zone where we know we are safe even if wee know it’s not the best place for us to be. Therefore, managing change and understanding the process of change is important to ensure the changes that you want are long lasting. The cycle of change below gives an indication of this –
The Cycle of Change consists of Pre-contemplation, Contemplation, Decision, Action, Maintenance and Lapse.
In Pre-Contemplation the person does not acknowledge a problem exists. They are ‘uninformed’ in the sense that no personally convincing reason for change has been presented as yet.
In Contemplation the person is ambivalent – they are in two minds about what they want to do. Sometimes they feel the need to change but not always.
Once you’ve made the Decision, we can work together to ensure your Action has the results you want.
Action is about preparing and planning for change. How will you make this change? What support do you need? Who will you tell? What needs to happen to help you move forward?
In Maintenance the change has been integrated into the person’s life. Some support may still be needed through this stage. In maintenance lasting change is learned, practised and becomes possible. As we continue to maintain our desired state, we gain psychological rewards for our work as opposed to wanting to move back to our old ways. When we are able to maintain what we have achieved we exit the cycle entirely.
Lapse is a temporary return to ‘old’ unhelpful thoughts, feelings or behaviours. This may be being tempted to have 1 cigarette.
Relapse is a full return to the old behaviour.
Lapse and Relapse are viewed as intrinsic to the Cycle Of Change and do not infer failure. It does not mean that lapse or relapse is desirable or even invariably expected. It simply means that change is difficult, and it is unreasonable to expect anyone to be able to modify a habit perfectly unwanted thoughts or slips.
In making a Change, it’s important that the individual seeks help in a way they feel comfortable with and with an organisation or individual they feel comfortable with.