Quit smoking with hypnosis: is it effective?

Medical hypnosis is of increasing interest today to patients, but also to practitioners. Thanks to mechanism of suggestion, it is possible to improve one’s daily life thanks to hypnosis : she allows to get rid of an addiction, but also stress, a phobia or sleep problems. “Hypnosis is not intended to cure disease., but the relationship we have to our body. So, we can get rid of tobacco, alcohol, or a drug, by modifying the perception that we have of these substances”, explains doctor Jean-Marc Benhaiem, hypnotherapist and director of the French Association for the Study of Medical Hypnosis. What type of hypnosis to quit smoking? How does a hypnosis session to quit smoking take place? Is it effective?

What type of hypnosis to quit smoking?

For tobacco, This approach aims to modify the relationship of the smoker to the cigarette based on their beliefs or rituals”, he details. The hypnotherapist will therefore rely on the patient’s beliefs and habits to modify them, deconstruct them “For addictions specifically, the patient finds himself in a restricted perception. He says to himself: ‘”Tobacco is convivial, it’s my anti-stress, it’s my break’. He only visualizes the good sides, not the ‘addicted’ side or the dangers. He is aware of it, but does not manage to take it into account”, explains the doctor. “We will therefore allow him to open up his perception. The patient will then have a click, he will say to himself: ‘So I calm my stress with a deadly plant‘. He will again be able to see all the elements, and therefore to change”he explains.

For whom is hypnosis indicated when you want to quit smoking?

For Doctor Benhaiem, anyone can be cured with hypnosis : “Basically, what is important is really wanting to change. A person who has already taken the step going to see a hypnotherapist has already started his self-hypnosis”, he advances. “On the contrary, for someone who was pushed by someone close, but who doesn’t really want to stop, it can’t work well.“ When the person has had the click, the role of the practitioner is therefore to accompany the person in this change, not only not hypnosis, but also by the therapy side. Of course, the patient can use other techniques : “There are people for whom having something in their hand is very important, so they can associate hypnosis with electronic cigarettes. But it depends on the character of the person”explains the hypnotherapist.

To begin with, during a first appointment, practitioner and patient discuss expectations of this one. The hypnotherapist should see if the person’s decision is sound or not. He also seeks to understand his relationship to tobacco, his habits, but also what bothers him the most in his addiction. “In a patient who is fed up with the taste of tobacco, we will use this sense to make the patient feel nauseous”, he details. For some people, the motivation will be the increasingly high cost of the package, for still others, the risk of dying. After working on this point, if the person is really motivated, the hypnosis session comes. “We ask the person to make yourself comfortable, and we rely on what she told us” explains the hypnotherapist. For the person who is fed up with the taste of tobacco, he will ask him to remember this feeling of “pasty mouth”, for those in whom tobacco allows to release the pressure, they will be asked to remember this feeling of relief… “The patient is always Sit back in the chair and close your eyes. He is getting into a state of mind, he is feeling things. Then, in a second step, if the tobacco suffocates him, we will make him feel the breath. If she’s worried, we’ll make her feel the relief now that the threat is gone.if he feels like a prisoner, we will make him visualize what it is to be free from tobacco, etc. It is de-idealize the relationship with tobacco. The patient will say to himself “I don’t have so much pleasure anymore” and as soon as it clicks, the person has the ability to stop again. “Afterwards, the lack will be gradually calmed by the body. This is a great discovery of the 70s: we know that we manufacture these famous endorphins, this dopamine and this serotonin. As proof, smokers manage to sleep eight hours a night without smoking, they manage well not to smoke for 10 hours on a plane as soon as they are motivated. explains the doctor, recalling that there is 18% of patients who manage to quit on their own.

At the rate of one packet per day, the cost of cigarettes exceeds 3000 euros per year.

How many hypnosis sessions does it take to quit smoking?

One session or two sessions are often sufficient, according to the statements of our interlocutor. “If the patient is not really free from his addiction yet, or he needs another step, he comes back again, and, in general, that is enough”, explains the doctor.

Is hypnosis effective in quitting smoking?

When the patient is truly motivated, a hypnosis session (after a discussion session with the practitioner) can be very effective. Some may need to combine this method with an electronic cigarette for example, or may need other sessions. It all depends on the personality and habits of the patient. : “He must above all feel free to be able to come back to see us whenever he wants”, adds the practitioner.

What are the risks of hypnosis to quit smoking?

If you go to a practitioner who has the necessary skills, but also the human qualities required for this type of therapy, there is no risk in practicing hypnotherapy. “But before contacting a hypnotherapist, you must secure diplomas And experience of this one” advises our interlocutor. So, be sure to contact a real health professional, be it a doctor or even a midwife who has then trained in therapeutic hypnosis. “It is health care that should not be improvised“, insists our interlocutor.

What are the contraindications to hypnosis to quit smoking?

There is no real contraindication to the practice of medical hypnosis : “Simply, you have to be careful with patients who have psychotic delusions – and that’s the doctor’s job. This only concerns one in 500 patients, but it is still necessary check psychiatric historyand take it slow”he says.

How much does a hypnosis session to quit smoking cost?

THE fees of a hypnotherapist are free – this means that the practitioner sets his own prices, they are not framed and in general not reimbursed. A session often amounts to one or even several hundred euros. But if we compare with the cost of the cigarette in a lifetime, the patient finds it easily. As a reminder, at the rate of one packet per day, the cost of a cigarette exceeds 3000 euros per year.

Thanks to Dr. Jean-Marc Benhaiem, director of the French Association for the Study of Medical Hypnosis and author of “Hypnosis-toi-toi-moi”.