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Choosing the Right Hypnotherapy for Smoking Cessation: Going Beyond the Symptom

Updated: Oct 17

QUIT SMOKING: PART TWO


Quit smoking using hypnotherapy for lasting results

This article is the second in a two-part 'Quit Smoking' series. My suggestion is that you jump over to read "Why Quitting Smoking is About More Than Just the Habit" first. Or, if you are more visual or auditory, feel free to jump across to YouTube where I have a video on this topic. Click this link or watch below.





If you’re considering hypnotherapy to quit smoking, you’ve probably already heard that it’s a powerful tool for change. But not all hypnotherapy approaches are the same. To experience real, lasting success, it’s essential to choose a style of hypnotherapy that goes beyond just eliminating the smoking habit and focuses on healing the root cause of the behaviour.


Why the Root Cause Matters


Quitting Smoking using Hypnotherapy: create lasting change

Lately, I’ve noticed a cluster of clients with similar presentations, having quit smoking in the past and now reaching out to me for help with quitting [insert addictive coping behaviour here]. When people quit smoking without addressing the underlying emotional issues that drive the habit, they often find themselves struggling with other problems. They may replace smoking with overeating, drinking, or other unhealthy behaviours. That’s because smoking was never the actual problem—it was a coping mechanism for something deeper.


Quitting Smoking with Hypnotherapy: lasting change

Without resolving the emotional triggers that lead to smoking, you’re not truly free from the habit. You might stop smoking for a while, but those unresolved feelings will find another outlet. This is why it’s so important to choose the right hypnotherapy approach—one that helps you heal the root cause.




The Importance of Choosing the Right Hypnotherapy Style


There are many styles of hypnotherapy, but not all are focused on exploring the root cause of behaviours. Some hypnotherapy techniques work primarily through suggestion—helping you stop smoking by planting positive suggestions in your subconscious. While this can be effective in the short term (indeed, many of my clients quit smoking this way!), it doesn’t address the emotional or psychological reasons you started smoking in the first place. Hence why they come to see me, with new issues to deal with.



For long-term success, you need a type of hypnotherapy that delves into your subconscious mind and uncovers the emotional triggers that have been keeping you tied to smoking.


Approaches like somatic hypnotherapy, analytical hypnotherapy or regression-based hypnotherapy focus on identifying and resolving these deeper issues.



How Somatic, Analytical and Regression-Based Hypnotherapy Work


In analytical hypnotherapy, the therapist works with you to explore the root causes of your smoking habit by asking targeted questions while you’re in a deeply relaxed, hypnotic state. This process helps bring unconscious emotions and memories to the surface. Once these emotions are acknowledged and processed, the need for smoking as a coping mechanism diminishes.


Regression-based hypnotherapy takes a similar approach, guiding you back to specific memories or past experiences that may be influencing your current behaviour. This allows you to understand the emotional roots of your smoking addiction and gives you the tools to heal those past experiences, making quitting smoking easier and more sustainable.


Somatic hypnotherapy is a combination of these, whereby the client's subconscious or higher self directs the session by starting in the body and moving inward toward the root cause; they may or may not regress to a previous time but rather, their subconscious mind may prefer to move into a healing space, alternate dimensions, or deeper within the tissues of the body. This intensive style is client-led, involving two-way communication between the client and therapist, with no need for previously written scripts. It is an effective blend of body-mind-spirit, combining psychology, science, and spirituality, as deep healing work must incorporate all therapeutic elements to achieve real change. If you would like to learn more about Somatic Hypnosis Technique or find out how to book a session, click here.



Each somatic hypnosis session is personalised and unique to what each individual needs to heal and this is achieved by being person-focused and intelligently led by the larger, subconscious mind.


Healing Emotional Triggers


Hypnotherapy doesn’t just help you quit smoking; it helps you develop healthier ways to cope with stress, anxiety, or trauma. By resolving the emotional triggers that drive smoking, hypnotherapy creates lasting freedom from the habit.

When you work with a hypnotherapist who specialises in root-cause-focused techniques, you’re not just quitting smoking. You’re addressing the emotional pain or stress that caused the habit in the first place. This ensures that when you stop smoking, you’re truly free from the emotional chains that kept you tied to the behavior.


Quitting Smoking with Hypnotherapy: addressing the root cause for lasting change

Finding the Right Hypnotherapist


If you’re considering hypnotherapy to quit smoking, it’s important to find a therapist who understands the importance of addressing the root cause. Ask your potential hypnotherapist about their approach and whether they specialise in techniques that are individualised, client-led, and focused on finding and healing the root cause, rather than just the behaviour or symptom.



A skilled hypnotherapist will not only help you quit smoking but also guide you in healing the emotional triggers behind the habit.


True Freedom from Smoking


Quitting smoking with hypnotherapy is about more than just stopping a habit—it’s about creating lasting emotional freedom. By choosing the right hypnotherapy style, one that focuses on healing the root cause of your smoking addiction, you can achieve true, long-term success and embrace a healthier, more balanced life.



 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louisa Greaves is an Australian registered clinical hypnotherapist, psychotherapist, and registered nurse offering both online and local services in Brisbane. She is the founder of the Somatic Hypnosis Technique, an intensive hypnotherapy method that delves deep into the subconscious mind using both spiritual and psychoneuroimmunological (mind-body) and modern scientific principles. This innovative approach bridges science, psychology, and spirituality to address and alleviate clients' physical, mental, and spiritual discomfort and dysregulation.


To book a one-on-one session with her, visit her website, find her on social media, or just give her a call on +61 (07) 0411 571 834.




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