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Can Hypnotherapy reduce/eliminate desire for pot smoking?
I attracted a new client who is a regular pot smoker and would like to reduce his pot consumption to recreational use. How success ful is hypnotherapy on a person who had been smoking pot for 37 years?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brett Cameron on -
Hi Ingrid,
All of my pot smoker clients have wanted to stop smoking pot, not reducing, so the following might or might not be of assistance. Like people who want to reduce alcohol, I suggest it might be better to stop for a period of time and then decide if you want to have some.
The short answer is yes! Hypnotherapy is very useful is helping a long term pot smoker become a clean fresh air breather. And now for the long answer. I too have attracted quite a list of pot smokers and have success with many. The most heralded success is a woman in her late 50's who had been smoking pot for the past 35 years. She was a serious pot smoker consuming up to 20 cones/bongs/pipes a day. (I was quite astonished that she was able to function yet she still had all of her faculties). Firstly there has to be a very strong desire to stop. if the desire is less than 7/10 then I tell them that their success might take a little longer. I saw this woman 6 times. The second issue is that most pot smokers tend to mix tobacco with their green so do we help them stop smoking marijuana and tobacco together or one at a time. With most clients I suggest that we work on the tobacco first and ask that they stop mixing tobacco with their grass. With my lady client she stopped smoking tobacco after one session and then we were able to work on the pot. Basically the success can be attributed to the use of Parts Therapy. By getting all of her parts in agreement for a common positive goal she was able to move forward to a new life, in which she could control, a new life of clean health blah blah blah. And after that we have the anxiety to deal with. Long term pot use can lead to strong anxieties and if the anxieties are not dealt with, then the client might look to going back to a substance that they might feel gave relief to anxieties in the past. So we have a complex situation. However a situation that with patience and a broad application of techniques will lead to success. I have attached a PDF of an NLP Spinning Wheel for Anxiety relief process that works well with pot smokers.
If Michael Ellner is following this thread, I know that he will a stash of great advice.
Go for it Ingrid. you will do well.
Brett Cameron
www.channelled.com.au - Attachments:
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Spinning Wheel Article.pdf, 133 KB
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Permalink Reply by Ricky Strode on -
Very sucessful.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on -
I am your co-pilot on this flight-- Brett.
Hello Ingrid,
Brett, gave you great advice and if he wants to like, totally quit -- it is always a good idea for the person to give up their stash. it is a way for them to symbolically demonstrate they really want to quit. Understanding that 'pot' is a controlled substance Fable Goodman (The UK, EU and stuff) and I (The Americas) offer a special handling service for processing this kind of contraband - Contact us off-group for instructions on how to proceed. And yes we burn it -- just like law enforcement --
FYI
In the US many pot smokers want to cut down rather than stop -- their issue is too much of a good thing and they want a sense of control -- I often explain that some folks do better if they stop completely first and then decide if they want to pick it up now and again and others have an acceptable level of use in mind and just want help reaching their goal and let them decide on the best way to do it for them
Hint -- People get "high" because the molecules they are ingesting trigger our brain and cell receptors... These little buggers were bioengineered to react to our own neuropeptides and feel high -- So you can create a post hypnotic cue for feeling naturally high...
You can do this Ingrid -- Warmest regards Brett
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Permalink Reply by Bruce Taylor on -
I am not sure how effective it would be to reduce his smoking. I would think that you would have to identify what that means. Is it one time less a week? Some ground rules need to be established. How much does he smoke now and what is his goal. I think it can be successful but think some goals need to be established.
Bruce Taylor
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Permalink Reply by Jeff on -
Ingrid:
Brett and Micheal hit on two seperate points that are the powerful keys to pot smokers. Pot is not physically addicting, it's pschologically addicting (actually, from my model, everything addicting is of the mind, but anyway ...). The "High" is the thing. If they can remember a high, they can relive it whenever they want, without the pains, body aches, sore throat and legal issues. Get all the positives they get from the "high" put them in trance, do an NLP anchor and trigger to everything they love about the high, have them relive it over and over in trance and then repeatedly have them anchor the "Buzz". bring them out and have them activate the trigger. 4 sessions and they will be able to get the refreshing, lovely good feelings without a toke! Also, if you create a trigger that is akin to smoking (like holding a pretend pipe or joint and breathing deeply) they will react easier and faster.
If you change someones state, they will be your client forever; if you teach someone to change their own state, they will be your biggest billboard and bring you more clients!
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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on
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You are on the right track. First, the pot smoker has to CHOOSE to quit by his/her own free will...then I do at least three sessions (the client chooses the order of the first two):
1. Ask him/her to identify their personal BENEFITS for quitting, and progress the client forward in time to have him or her fantasize enjoyment of the benefits.
2. Teach self-hypnosis and anchor triggers to help the client create the same feeling or "high" without the substance.
3. Use parts therapy to help resolve any remaining inner conflicts over quitting.
Years ago a veteran told me that he really appreciated the ability to get the same "high" while listening to classical music but could come back to reality immediately when the phone rang. He also told me that his financial savings would be over $6000 per year (besides not being vulnerable to arrest).
Roy Hunter
Jeff said:Ingrid:
Brett and Micheal hit on two seperate points that are the powerful keys to pot smokers. Pot is not physically addicting, it's pschologically addicting (actually, from my model, everything addicting is of the mind, but anyway ...). The "High" is the thing. If they can remember a high, they can relive it whenever they want, without the pains, body aches, sore throat and legal issues. Get all the positives they get from the "high" put them in trance, do an NLP anchor and trigger to everything they love about the high, have them relive it over and over in trance and then repeatedly have them anchor the "Buzz". bring them out and have them activate the trigger. 4 sessions and they will be able to get the refreshing, lovely good feelings without a toke! Also, if you create a trigger that is akin to smoking (like holding a pretend pipe or joint and breathing deeply) they will react easier and faster. If you change someones state, they will be your client forever; if you teach someone to change their own state, they will be your biggest billboard and bring you more clients!
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Permalink Reply by Shane O'Shields on -
I smoked pot all day every day for a decade or so. I then found my self in circumstances didn't allow for me to have constant access to pot. In a short time I had a revelation of sorts. After being stoned for 10 years, the high was the norm. I guess you could say that I reframed not being high, as the new high. I played with it, and observed the state of not being high as if it was an altered state, a new experience. I shortly came to the conclusion that I really enjoyed everything more when I wasn't stoned. I'm not opposed to smoking pot. I still do, maybe once a month or so, but it's a very deliberate decision when i do smoke.
I did the same to quit smoking. I pretended the withdrawal symptoms were a voluntary altered state of consciousness to explore and play with. I was VERY productive during that time.
Anyway, that's what worked for me. I was unknowingly using self-styled auto-suggestion/nlp to change my relationship with these things.
I hope this shines some sort of light on a possible direction to take with this issue.
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Permalink Reply by Ricky Strode on
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Remember there are no absolutes anything is subject to change and that is my job. It is your too, right ? Now, I hope I left you thinking about your right way of dealing with this and to be able to understand their model and be able to do something that is satisfactory for them. Do you know about anchors and reframing or the phobia cure ? They are all simple way to compound suggestions and increase effecticveness in not going back to previous behavior, or to rebuild another negative behavior in its process. Remember when you take one thing away it is a good idea to replace it with something positive so another negative isn't formed to replace it.
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Permalink Reply by Sharon Stiles on -
I've usd hypnosis successfully with people who have smoked pot regularly (though not for quite that long). I also tend to teach them Chinosis or EFT as a way of relaxing and dealing with unwanted emotions. Because they both have a physical component to them (tapping or rubbing on acupressure points and breathing deeply) it replaces the physical component of smoking.
With regards to reducing rather than stopping completely, sometimes people can't imagine being able to stop completely because it seems too difficult/boring. I have had a couple of smokers who have come to me to cut back. One does now smoke occasionally socially as that is what he wanted and the other decided that because she had cut back so much there wasn't really any point in smoking at all. Stopping completely to start off with though would have been too big a step for her to consider.
Best Wishes
Sharon
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