I m frustrated with smoking-cessations

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on October 30, 2009 at 6:31am

I emphasise in the intial contact converstaion
that the most important thing is that the person make thier own
clear and commited decision
to be a non smoker.

Then hypnosis can help to make it a lot easier to stick to that decision.

When the client arrives,
I spend a good half hour,
and sometimes as much as an hour in the pre talk stage,
clarifying the decision,
and setting things up for success
before we even start with the official hypnosis session.



There are many ways a client can unawarely sabotage things,
and it is important to address these.

Many people make qualified decisions, like:
I will be a non smoker as long as 'xxxxx'
'I don't put on weight...'
'I dont get stressed out...'
'I don't get drunk..'
'people dont smoke around me..'
'it's easy'
'it works...'
(how many ways from your experience with clients can you finish the sentence?)

this decision equates to:
I am planning to start smoking again as soon as 'xxxxx'

If they are deciding to stop smoking,
as longs as
the hypnosis works.
then they have not decided to stop smoking,
they have decided to start smoking again
as soon as they imagine the hypnosis is not working well enough.

The responsibility is on the client
to make a clear commited decision
and stick to it regardless of anything and anybody,
including regardless of
how well the hypnosis appears to be working.
I will do all I can to enable this,
but I do not take responsibility for the decision.


The question of them being a non smoker
is then no longer an issue...
the only question left,
is how easy it will be from there on.

So success is 100%
for those who do what they have agreed.

How much easier it is than it would have been otherwise,
is something which is much harder to quantify,
as it is purely subjective.
But for most people
once they have made a clear and commited decision,
and then carry it out,
it automatically becomes much easier
than it would have been otherwise,
(with or without hypnosis).

The actual style of suggestions I use,
can be found elswwhere in other theads on this topic.

LOve and hugs,

Fable

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on October 30, 2009 at 7:35am

That is a really elegant way of putting it, Fable.

Andreas, hang in there. I find smoking cessation frustrating, too. You'd think that someone who will pay good money to quit smoking is by definition committed to it. But there is a plethora of reasons people will come to you for smoking cessation.

Society tells smokers that they should quit. So by paying you and failing, the smokers have an excuse: "I've tried everything! Not even hypnosis worked!"


Fable Goodman said:

I emphasise in the intial contact converstaion
that the most important thing is that the person make thier own
clear and commited decision
to be a non smoker.

Then hypnosis can help to make it a lot easier to stick to that decision.

When the client arrives,
I spend a good half hour,
and sometimes as much as an hour in the pre talk stage,
clarifying the decision,
and setting things up for success
before we even start with the official hypnosis session.



There are many ways a client can unawarely sabotage things,
and it is important to address these.

Many people make qualified decisions, like:
I will be a non smoker as long as 'xxxxx'
'I don't put on weight...'
'I dont get stressed out...'
'I don't get drunk..'
'people dont smoke around me..'
'it's easy'
'it works...'
(how many ways from your experience with clients can you finish the sentence?)

this decision equates to:
I am planning to start smoking again as soon as 'xxxxx'

If they are deciding to stop smoking,
as longs as
the hypnosis works.
then they have not decided to stop smoking,
they have decided to start smoking again
as soon as they imagine the hypnosis is not working well enough.

The responsibility is on the client
to make a clear commited decision
and stick to it regardless of anything and anybody,
including regardless of
how well the hypnosis appears to be working.
I will do all I can to enable this,
but I do not take responsibility for the decision.


The question of them being a non smoker
is then no longer an issue...
the only question left,
is how easy it will be from there on.

So success is 100%
for those who do what they have agreed.

How much easier it is than it would have been otherwise,
is something which is much harder to quantify,
as it is purely subjective.
But for most people
once they have made a clear and commited decision,
and then carry it out,
it automatically becomes much easier
than it would have been otherwise,
(with or without hypnosis).

The actual style of suggestions I use,
can be found elswwhere in other theads on this topic.

LOve and hugs,

Fable

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on October 30, 2009 at 8:13am

A most powerful "part" of smoking cessation therapy:

Often, despite all surface claims to the contrary, a part of a smoker still resists...being ever the rebel, even to himself! Discovering the motivation behind that part and re-aligning that part to the updated desire of the client's pursuit of good health and freedom from smoking can be the key. Finding the purpose of that sabatoge is crucial and will give you direction for reframe.

Imagine the language: "This part of yourself that is working so well to assert your control in life, your independent choice and freedom to be a smoker...is now becoming aware that it is actually working against you and...itself! It is becoming aware that while, in its attempt to assert freedom, it has actually relinquished freedom...to the tobacco. It has listened to the valid and heartfelt reasons why you wish to become a non-smoker...and I'm wondering how it can continue to serve you in a more appropriate way...perhaps it has some ideas on this?"

Best wishes,

Kelley

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Malone on October 30, 2009 at 9:44am

Andreas, you received some great ideas here. My two cents: a term I like and use often that I learned from several of Michael Ellner's posts here at Hypnothoughts, is that of us being "self-help educators" as well ascertfied hypnosis professionals. You really have to be able to fire up the client's imagination and get their buy-in to the process before the induction process. That and teach them why they are going to be successful. If you do that, the actual hypnotic ritual is fairly simple and straightforward.

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Permalink Reply by Andreas Tenhagen on October 30, 2009 at 10:07am

Thank you all, for your reply. And really, really good ideas.

I always try to figure out....the reason why they quit. But even when there is a serious health-problem...they start again after one day. My hypnosis-teacher says: Ask them if they could imagine how good a cigarette tastes. If they say:"yes".....send them home and don´t forget to make another appointment for two-weeks, because then they are not ready to quit. But everybody who is coming says..."hmm, great".

Greetings

Andreas

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Atkinson on October 30, 2009 at 10:34am

I have only worked with smokers a very few select times as I find them difficult as well - mainly because they are resistive to change. I would think 40% is probably a good percentage.

During the intake interview, I have them rate themselves on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the strongest desire to quit. I find that if they are not at least a 90 or above, their real desire to quit is more than not motivated by other factors ... wife wants them to quit, they found out they now have cancer, the doctor told them should, etc. - mainly they have a strong resistance to change.

If income is your motivation, then do not let it bother you what your success rate is ... if success is your motivation, then you may want to restrict who you accept to people who are truly motivated and desire to quit, and want to quit for their own personal reasons.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Witherspoon on October 30, 2009 at 11:58am

I can identify with how you feel. I work on a part time basis so I really have not had a lot of smoking clients. The few that I have had came in really motivated but I always knew the ones that needed a second session by what they said before they left.

We would talk about the session and what the thought and felt then I would say good-bye and they would reply "I hope this really works". I would immediately say if you really hope this is going to work I would like to see you for a second session so you will be sure this will work. If they are not certain that they will never smoke again when they leave then you know that it is just a matter of time before they smoke again.

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Permalink Reply by James Klingensmith on October 30, 2009 at 2:44pm

I do not believe in a "%" every person is different and wants to quit for different reasons.

I agree with Fable "The responsibility is on the client" all hypnosis can do is help.

This is what I tell my clients when they ask for about my success rate "Each and every person is unique and different and what works for someone else will most likely not work for you. This is why we cater each session just to you, your life experiences, and your triggers you might face throughout each day."
Using this pitch I find is very effective for upselling and keeping the client as a steady income source.
When someone has a " true rate over 80%" they are great about keeping the client coming back. My advice is don't use "%'s" set yourself up in a way you can't lose and let go of the responsibility.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Zappellini on October 30, 2009 at 3:38pm

Hi Andreas,
my true success rate with smoking cessation is 91% the reason is not because I am a better hypnotist than others but because during the admission interview when I understand that they are not ready or they are in a period of their life that is quite stressful I don't book them I tell them to come back another time when the situation is calmer and they want to stop smoking for the right reason.
I hope it helps.
P.S. my smoking cessation program consist of 3 sessions of about 2 hours each and follow up even after one year.
my usual 2 cents
Cheers
Michael

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on October 30, 2009 at 3:46pm

What makes my methods so successful is as follows:

I filter the clients on the front end, weeding out those that aren't ready to quit yet.
I prove the effectiveness of hypnosis to eliminate cravings to the client before the session ever starts
I have them come up with an alternative activity to smoking that will provide the same benefit as smoking did
I eliminate the triggers that make them reach for a cigarette without thinking about it
I have them go back to when they first started smoking and give the younger them a talking to, about what starting smoking did to them, then I give the younger them an opportunity for payback when I give them the job of reminding the client they don't smoke anymore whenever they even think about it.
I do some guided imagery taking them down a country road where they come to a line drawn across the road. Everything on their side and behind them is in black and white, everything on the other side of the line is bright and colorful. The line represents their decision to stop smoking. I end it all with a year guarantee. If for any reason they start smoking again, they can come back and I will do them again for free.

I hope this helps you
John

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Permalink Reply by Duff McDuffee on October 30, 2009 at 11:13pm

I agree with John and Michael. The key to a higher success rate than about 40% with anything is filtering out clients who are in "pre-contemplation" phases--i.e. those who are not yet ready to change--as well as filtering out clients for which you just don't have good natural rapport by referring to other practitioners.

Are you familiar with the Motivational Interviewing model? If not, I recommend checking out books on the subject. There are good tips for helping clients move from not yet thinking about change to ready to change, which will also help to discover which clients are ready for your work.

In the end, there is only so much the therapist/coach can do to influence a client. Accepting this is one key to becoming a great practitioner!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on October 31, 2009 at 6:31am

Duff,

Perhaps you would begin a discussion on Motivational Interviewing...it would be enlightening to hear members' insights!

Regards,

Kelley

Duff McDuffee said:

I agree with John and Michael. The key to a higher success rate than about 40% with anything is filtering out clients who are in "pre-contemplation" phases--i.e. those who are not yet ready to change--as well as filtering out clients for which you just don't have good natural rapport by referring to other practitioners.

Are you familiar with the Motivational Interviewing model? If not, I recommend checking out books on the subject. There are good tips for helping clients move from not yet thinking about change to ready to change, which will also help to discover which clients are ready for your work.

In the end, there is only so much the therapist/coach can do to influence a client. Accepting this is one key to becoming a great practitioner!

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