Smokers are often frustrated by their seeming inability to overcome nicotine addiction. The result of their frustration is an entire industry devoted to helping smokers quit this dangerous habit. Smoking cessation hypnosis is a popular alternative treatment for nicotine addiction that offers several benefits to smokers who are motivated to quit. These benefits include a lack of side effects and potential withdrawal symptoms from the use of drugs, the possibility of insurance coverage, and the flexibility and low cost of using self-hypnosis recordings.
Smoking cessation hypnosis involves a skilled practitioner, often called a hypnotherapist, guiding a client into a state of deep relaxation. While the client is in this state, the hypnotherapist uses hypnotic suggestion to help the client manage his or her desire for smoking and make the changes necessary to quit smoking once and for all. In some cases, the hypnotherapist may also be a licensed mental health professional who can offer the client additional psychotherapy or counseling services to address other issues that may be contributing to the client's nicotine addiction. If the client's health insurance offers a mental health benefit, smoking cessation hypnosis offered by a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker may be covered, resulting in little or no out-of-pocket costs to the client.
Smokers who do not have access to health insurance and cannot afford regular in-person smoking cessation hypnosis sessions can still benefit from this therapy. A number of hypnotherapists have created audio and video self-hypnosis products that the smoker can use at home. In some cases, hypnotherapists offer clients the option of meeting for one or two live sessions and then using self-hypnosis recordings to continue their work at home. This hybrid approach benefits clients in that they work one on one with a hypnotherapist who can get them on the right track and then use the more cost-effective recordings on a schedule that works for them.
Another significant benefit of smoking cessation hypnosis is that it does not require the use of drugs or supplemental nicotine to be effective, although some practitioners do combine hypnotherapy with these other treatments. Clients who undergo smoking cessation hypnotherapy on its own do not have the cost of filling prescriptions or purchasing nicotine gums or patches. They also do not have to experience the potential side effects of these treatments or their withdrawal symptoms as the therapy comes to an end.