With every New Year comes one or more resolutions. We pledge to eat a better diet and some of us even sign up to the local gym, determined to get into shape. 

Some of us promise to cut down how much we drink and many, many people vow to finally give up smoking. 

As anyone who has ever dealt with addiction knows, even the best intentions can quickly be eroded by bad habits and powerful cravings. Before we know it, all our resolutions have been broken. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Hypnotherapy has been proven to treat people dealing with everything from anxiety to PTSD. 

It can help you stub out that cigarette and make sure it’s the last one you ever smoke. Let me explain how.  

The health impact of a smoking habit 

Although tobacco has been chewed for thousands of years, cigarettes are a relatively modern invention, taking off in popularity in the 19th century. The World Health Organisation estimates there are more than one people around the globe who smoke. 

As well as impacting the health of smokers themselves, cigarette smoke also harms those in their immediate environment – particularly children. As well as accelerating ageing, smoking is also linked to the following cancers: 

• bladder
• blood 
• cervix
• colon and rectum 
• kidney and ureter
• larynx
• liver
• pancreas
• stomach
• lung

Smoking has also been found to increase the risk of heart failure, stroke, lung disease, cataracts and infertility. Is there any wonder around 70% of smokers actually want to give up?

What happens when you stop smoking?

Given that large desire to quit, it begs the question: why do people find it so hard to do? 

Much of the problem comes from nicotine, an addictive chemical found in cigarettes that fuels the compulsion to smoke, even in those who have already given up. 

A study found that nicotine in first-time smokers targets the brain’s ventral tegmental area, prompting feelings of both pleasure and aversion. 

For those who continued to smoke, the signalling process in the brain’s reward system is altered. 

As the nicotine in the cigarette releases feel-good chemical dopamine, the brain is taught to repeat the action to achieve the same dopamine release. 

Addiction occurs when the brain becomes reliant on relieving the lack of nicotine in the system, rather than the good feeling from the dopamine. 

Withdrawal symptoms when quitting smoking

Anyone who has tried to stop smoking by sheer willpower – without relying on support systems such as nicotine replacement therapy – knows how incredibly difficult quitting can be. 

As well as the social pressures if you’re among a group of smokers, physical withdrawal symptoms including strong cravings, aches and pains, headaches and nausea, which can begin within hours of your last cigarette. 

Nicotine withdrawal can affect people’s mental health too, with symptoms including: 

• irritability
• anxiety
• depression
• concentration issues 
• insomnia

It can be overwhelming trying to give up smoking, but this isn’t a battle you have to fight on your own. 

Hypnotherapy can ease the withdrawal symptoms and help you quit smoking, once and for all. 

Using hypnotherapy to quit smoking

Unlike nicotine replacement therapy, patches or chewing gum, hypnotherapy doesn’t focus on dealing with the withdrawal symptoms, although some studies suggest it can ease them. 

Hypnotherapy works to break the negative behaviours and thought patterns underpinning why someone began smoking in the first place. That can be everything from anxiety, boredom, or wanting to be part of a particular social group. 

It also helps smokers identify and find ways to overcome triggers for cravings such as that early morning coffee, having a drink in the pub or finishing a meal. 

During my hypnotherapy sessions, patients are gently eased into a relaxed state, allowing their mind to focus on the thoughts or suggestions I give them that will bring about positive change. 

As well as helping to break the negative behaviours associated with smoking, hypnotherapy can also give you the tools to ensure you never pick up another cigarette. 

Hypnotherapy, smoking and weight gain

Many people who stop smoking are affected by weight gain, and it becomes a reason to put off trying to quit. 

My hypnotherapy sessions factor in this reaction to stopping smoking. You will be given specific subconscious suggestions to ensure you won’t use food as a substitute for nicotine in the short or long-term.

Case study success

In 2022, I helped a patient who had repeatedly tried and failed to quit smoking over two years. They said: “It is very hard to explain what changed or how, but I’m incredibly grateful to Sevarin for finally breaking whatever associations kept drawing me back. 

“I was tired of gearing myself up to quit again and I’m happy to finally be past it now. It’s been two months so far, but I’m certain this is it for good.”

Let me free you from nicotine addiction 

If you’re ready to permanently kick your smoking habit and finally keep one of the trickiest New Year’s resolutions, I’m here to help. 

I’m a fully qualified solution-focused clinical hypnotherapist and psychotherapist, and believe we all possess an inner strength and resource to achieve our goals. Sometimes we just need a little help or guidance!

You can find me at two Cambridge locations: Salus Wellness Clinics on Thursday and Coach House Health Care on Friday. 

To have a chat or book your free initial consultation, email me at sevarin@lifeflowhypnotherapy.co.uk, or fill in this contact form and I’ll get back to you straight away.