Smoking addiction can be relieved by sticking to tried and tested ways and moving fast Smoking addiction is legal and is neither shameful nor easy to hide. Also the physical addictive impact of nicotine is actually pretty high. So, although smoking addiction is basically the same as other addictions and requires the same basic approach, there are a couple of nuances which lead to a subtly different approach to smoking cessation therapy. The first is that smoking does not destroy lives (this is leaving aside the long-term health consequences of smoking) - and it is perfectly possible for a smoker to be getting their needs well met. Smokers have their stories as to why they smoke well set up - to de-stress and I enjoy it so why should I stop. Despite the baleful health effects of smoking, compelling motivation to stop is sometimes illusive. Direct smoking cessation work can therefore move much more quickly than other addictions (though there are exceptions - see Lyn, opposite). My experience is that one or two sessions of therapy is normally sufficient – assuming that the general level of motivation is high enough or can be raised.
Feelbetter Counselling routes to Stop Smoking
Trance and reframing is the heart of smoking cessation. Reframing to buttress motivation and open to the possibilities of a life without smoking and then using the full panoply of trance, rehearsal and indirect suggestion. The box below taken from my notes over the years shows some of the possibilities.
Go to Addictions from Smoking Addiction East London, on the Central Line, around 30 minutes from the City Landline: 020 8257 0429, Mobile/text: 07870 104651, Skype name: famrichhg |
The National Smoking Cessation Institute Visit the site here
The National Smoking Cessation Institute is a not-for-profit co-operative, established in 1991 to provide the public in the UK with a better stop-smoking service than the NHS is able to offer.
The National Health Service, because of its contractual relationships with the pharmaceutical industry, is able only to offer smokers drug products – nicotine and psychotropic drugs. All the research done by the NSCI says that giving more nicotine for stopping smoking is not the solution, and putting them on anti-depressants makes even less sense.
Although the Institute receives no funding from the state, they continue to do ground breaking work to help smokers.
Case study: Lyn
Lyn was in her 60s and had smoked all of her adult life and was determined to have another go – to stop. This was for health reasons and because her daughter hated her smoking. We discovered that there was a lot of trauma in Lyn’s past – mainly around two unsuccessful and quite abusive marriages. She was also a little depressed – evident by her bad sleep and her core scores.
So I worked on this. First I used Rewind to de-traumatise and then we built her confidence so that she could be more social. There were five sessions of therapy and only in the last, did we work directly on the smoking cessation. But by that time, she was ready to stop and indeed she did.
Case study: Amelia
Amelia had been a moderate smoker for many years and just could not stop. It was really annoying her and having married she wanted to try for a baby. There was clearly very strong motivation and I could also see that Amelia lived a well balanced life – with friends, her marriage and interesting work.
We focused on changing the patterns of Amelia's daily life when smoking was a temptation and set up a plan to change these over the next week or so. This was part of an extended preparation for the trance work that was to follow. Additional preparation included the scientific explanation of addiction (the dopamine surge) and finding her resources. We finished the session with that deep trance session.
We arranged to meet in a fortnight, but Amelia phoned to cancel on that day. She was unwell but volunteered the information that she was "amazed" at her progress. We then rearranged for two weeks hence. Again on the day of that session she phoned to cancel. She was ‘cured’ she said – and pregnant.
The first session will only be charged if you found that it helped and/or you decide to continue with me.
Over 85% of my clients feel better at the end of their treatment - normally around 4 sessions. This is a high number and should give you confidence. I am pretty well unique as a private therapist - to maintain such records.