The word 'decide' is a powerful
word. It comes from that group of
words like homicide, pesticide,
suicide. It means to 'kill', to 'kill
off'. When you DECIDE to quit
cigarettes, you're essentially
'killing off', the option of ever
entertaining the idea of having
one ever again.
Let me share with you why this is SUCH an important
concept. What I have found in the years and hundreds of
clients that I've seen up to now, for the ones who do
need to come back for that second session, I always
notice a common theme. When I ask them if they had a
huge overwhelming craving for a cigarette in that
moment that they had one, almost always they'll say
"well, not really, BUT... " and they'll go onto describe
either one of two scenarios.
1) Alcohol was involved. This is very common amongst
the few that need the second session. They'll be out and
about, having a few drinks, socialising and they'll say..
"hmmm... I'm OK, it's been a while, I'm in control, maybe
I can have just one sneaky little puff" and then BOOM!
They are back on them before they know it! What I say to
everyone is that once you have done the session and
feel great, you have to treat it like a recovering alcoholic.
They can't just have a nip, or a little. It's all or none, and
quitting cigarettes is the exact same thing.
As much as some smokers would like to wish there was
some treatment out there that will make a full time
smoker a part time, social smoker, there just isn't. What
you'll find with social smokers is that they have ALWAYS
BEEN SOCIAL SMOKERS! I haven't met a social
smoker yet that used to smoke a pack a day but now
smokes just a few here and here. Once you've jumped
over that side of the fence, you have to make the
decision whether you're ready to quit completely or not.
We all know what alcohol does, it reduces your decision
making ability. So people might be inclined to do
something, like have a cigarette, when they otherwise
wouldn't have.
2) Some emotional moment, often an emotional low.
This is the second most common scenario that brings
about the need for a second session. This is where some
unexpected or lingering moment of an emotional low was
present, and the person said to themselves something
like "bugger this, I'm just going to smoke", or, "to hell with
this, give me a fag".
You see sometimes we experience certain unwanted
situations and emotions where we are feeling so bad,
that we'll do anything at all to bring us to some better
feeling place, like smoke a cigarette. Even though, they
might not have had a craving for a cigarette, they just
wanted to feel something else in that moment and
somehow they thought a cigarette was going to bring
them to that better feeling place.
Getting back to the importance of decision, in both cases
mentioned above, the person didn't have a craving for a
cigarette, but they just DECIDED to have one. They were
basically in a situation where they could have gone
without, but they had one anyway.
The important thing to reiterate here is that no quit
smoking treatment will ever stop you from deciding to
have a cigarette, obviously. There's just too much free
will involved. The basic fundamental aim of ALL quit
smoking treatments is to give you a sense of control, no
matter what situation you're in, to decide not to smoke.
That treatment has really done its job to the degree that
you feel this control. That's all it really comes down to.
This is what hypnosis does in a nut shell. It leaves you
with a sense of control, a sense of empowerment that
makes it easy to decide not to have one, even though
you might be in a situation where having one might seem
totally justified
.
Furthermore, on this topic of decision, I'd like to add one
last point. It amuses me when I hear about or see
articles, scientific journals or studies that are comparing
the 'Long-term effectiveness of this quit treatment over
that treatment over that treatment etc'.
We have already established that smoking is more of a
powerful habit, rather than a drug addiction. Science has
shown that it takes exactly 21 days to break a habit.
Basically, if you have gone for this long without doing a
particular habitual action, you have broken that habit. I
know FOR A FACT, that if anyone has gone for more
than 21 days without smoking a cigarette but they started
up again, it wasn't because they had a craving for a
cigarette, it's because they decided to have one. Have
you gone for more than 21 days? If so, think back to the
situation where you started again? Could you have gone
without in the moment? It makes no difference
whatsoever what method got you to 21 days, what got
you there pretty much 'worked'. Treatments and methods
for quitting don't vary from one to another in terms of
reducing or increasing one's ability to exercise their free
will to pick up a cigarette at all. It's up to the individual's
commitment to decide not to pick one up, not on what
they used to quit. Hypnosis can make that 21 days just
seem so much easier than the rest.
Sometimes I get clients who say, "I tried hypnosis and it
was great, it lasted 6 months", or a year, or two years
etc. I say to them. Hypnosis isn't necessarily 'working' on
you for that amount of time, it basically 'worked' from the
moment you opened your eyes and no longer felt like a
cigarette. You were just committed to your decision NOT
to smoke for 3 months, or a year or 2 years etc. I'm sure
this is making a lot of sense to you.