Smoking
Cessation
Smoking & Vaping Cessation Therapy Overview
Quitting smoking or vaping is a powerful step toward improving your health, wellbeing, and control over life.
My approach combines understanding how your mind works with hypnotherapy techniques to support lasting change.
How the mind and brain affect smoking
Smoking is not just a physical habit but deeply linked with how your brain processes stress and reward.
- The primitive emotional brain including the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus plays a central role in emotional reactions and habit formation.
- This part of the brain can mistakenly believe smoking helps manage stress and anxiety, even though it actually increases these over time (Koob & Volkow, 2010).
- Serotonin, a key brain chemical involved in mood regulation, is often lower in smokers. Nicotine is sometimes wrongly seen by the brain as a substitute for serotonin, but this chemical replacement is ineffective and harmful (Mayo Clinic, 2023).
- Physical nicotine addiction is a factor, but research indicates the psychological aspects including habits, triggers, and emotional connections are the larger challenge, often estimated around 80 -90% of the difficulty in quitting (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2020).
- Many smokers successfully abstain for extended periods during specific situations like hospital stays or flights, showing the physical addiction is manageable with the right mindset (NHS Smokefree).
- Long-term smoking is linked with increased risk of anxiety and depression, highlighting the importance of addressing mental health alongside quitting (JAMA Psychiatry, 2018).
- Studies show smokers on average earn less than non-smokers, with some research suggesting a gap around 20%, though this varies by population and factors like health and social inequality (British Medical Journal, 2017).
How Hypnotherapy Supports Quitting
Hypnotherapy offers a safe and effective way to work with your subconscious mind:
- It induces a state of deep relaxation, reducing stress and anxiety that can trigger cravings.
- By accessing your deeper mind, hypnotherapy helps reshape beliefs and patterns around smoking, strengthening your intent to quit.
- Using guided imagery and suggestion, you can build positive, healthy responses to stress and boost natural serotonin production.
- You will receive supportive materials (such as a personalised audio recording) to reinforce the new mindset daily, helping maintain focus and resilience.
What to Expect in Therapy
Our sessions will cover:
- Understanding your personal smoking triggers and motivations
- Exploring how your mind works in relation to smoking and quitting
- Hypnosis by direct suggestion to change your thoughts around smoking/vaping, build your motivation and reframe habits
