Hirst

From 1st July 2007 smoking in enclosed public places will not be permitted in England. No longer will smokers be allowed to light up in offices, factories, pubs, clubs, restaurants or bars. Smokers everywhere will be forced to either give up, or only smoke in open places and their own homes.

When the government first announced its intention to change the law, it predicted that as a result, over 600,000 people will give up. If these government estimates are right, are hundreds of thousands of smokers about to give up at the same time and if so, how are they going to manage it?

There are three basic options: firstly straight will power, which is known to bring on the all too familiar withdrawal pangs of irritability, mood swings and cravings; secondly there is the proverbial nicotine patches and gum, which over recent years have received quite negative press in relation to their cost and effectiveness; the final option is hypnotherapy, which over recent years has become a more acceptable cure for smokers looking to quit.

The reason Hypnotherapy is such a powerful tool for those who wish to Quit Smoking is because Smoking is an unconscious habit. A 20-a-day, 30-year veteran has moved their hand up to their mouth and taken a deep breath over 2,000,000 times in their lives, and every time they have wrongly associated this movement with feelings of relaxation. Hypnotherapy helps people stop smoking because it helps retrain the unconscious mind and helps replace the normal withdrawals symptoms with feelings of relaxation, improved self confidence and overall happiness.

Hypnotherapy was actually proven to be the best method of stopping smoking by a meta analysis conducted at Iowa University by Viswesvaran & Schmiidt (1992) involving 72,000 subjects. The results of this research were featured in the New Scientist magazine (October 1992). This study looked at many different ways to stop smoking and Hypnotherapy was shown to be the most effective method.

Steve Burns is the founder of The Therapy Lounge.

Prior to starting The Therapy Lounge, Steve enjoyed a successful career in business. His first major project was to help establish, grow and then sell an international technology consultancy. He subsequently started his own Internet publishing and technology business, which he floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 and went on to grow internationally.

His fascination for personal development led him to finally leave the corporate zone to pursue a full time career as a therapist / executive coach. After training as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Ericksonian Hypnotherapist, NLP Master Practitioner and Health & Success Coach, Steve created and opened The Therapy Lounge based in NW London, on the borders of Hampstead, Highgate & Kentish Town.