However, as we’ve said many times on this site, you do need to want to stop smoking for it to work.  According to several interviews, Kerry admits that she ‘will miss her little friend’ and insisted on having a last ciggie before her session.  As far as we’re aware, Kerry has said she isn’t sure if the hypnotist thing has worked and although she still wants one, she knows she doesn’t need one any more.  Time will tell if the new conscious change is sufficient to keep her away from the cigarettes.

Marisa gave Kerry a hypnosis tape to continue to listen to at home but Kerry has apparently said that she couldn’t take it in when she tried to listen to it at home.  A self-hypnosis tape isn’t strictly necessary following a smoking cessation hypnotherapy session but some people find it comforting and a help as they struggle to believe that they can stop smoking after just one session.

27 year old Kerry has said she smokes anything from 5 cigarettes to 20 per day.   She and her husband Mark Croft are hoping that by having this hypnotherapy session, it will help stop the bad press.  We hope that’s not the only reason she’s done it and hope it works for her!

The team running No Smoking Day are really going for it this year now that you cannot smoke in public places in the UK, there has never been a better time to give up.  The No Smoking Day posters have been appearing in the soaps, such as in Viv’s cafe in Emmerdale amongst others.

If you feel you need that extra hand to give up smoking, why not read our article on how to choose a good hypnotherapist and give hypnosis a try.  As you’ll see in our Quit Smoking category, it’s one of the easiest ways to quit smoking!  That’s not to say it’s a cop out though, it still requires you to really want to give up.

If you’ve got any stories or comments about giving up smoking using hypnosis, we’d be interested in hearing them.

Today, Nicoli has spoken out about the global tobacco and smoking epidemic in response to a report from the World Health Organisation.

Read the full article here

Alderson first became interested in hypnosis when he and a friend attended a stage hypnotist’s show as teenagers.  His friend took part in the show and Alderson was amazed that he didn’t remember what he’d done.

This fuelled his desire to understand how suggestions and subliminal messages in marketing, films and books could trigger ideas and even persuade people that smoking was a ‘cool’ thing to do.

Alderson has always been particularly interested in helping people to stop smoking and now, after 25 years of doing hypnotherapy, Alderson is helping bring his methods to a wider audience with the launch of his new book ‘Breathe, Freedom! Lessons on Kicking The Crap Out Of Cigarettes.’

The book is woven round the life of a teenager called Freedom who face daily challenges in his life, much like a smoker trying to give up.  Intermittently woven into the story are metaphors and suggestions to help the reader to think differently about smoking.  The book also includes some additional tricks to help wannabe ex-smokers take their mind off the cigarettes.

Alderson’s therapeutic method includes finding the person’s real motivations to quit and helping them to carry them around with them so that they can bring them to mind whenever they feel they may want a cigarette.  They also need to change their routine, read the book and keep a positive mental attitude.  Providing the client wants to quit, Alderson sees no reason why the methods shouldn’t work.

The book is available at the University of Calgary bookstore, Self Connection Books, Pages on Kensington, Mount Royal College bookstore, and McNally Robinson.

This year, Norfolk’s Primary Care Trust (PCT) has set itself a huge target of helping 4,032 smokers to quit using their budget of £450,000.  To date, it has already achieved over half of that.

Their efforts include offering free nicotine patches to anyone who wants them.  Smokers can get in touch with the stop smoking advisors at the PCT and they will be given a voucher, worth around £16, to redeem at nearby pharmacies.  The vouchers will be given to smokers until 6th February 2008.

Advisors say if the voucher scheme proves successful, then they may run a similar scheme again in the future.

When the smoking ban was put in place, Norwich showed the largest increase in stop smoking book sales with a massive increase of 494%.  The national average was an increase of 257%.  The two most popular books in Norwich were books by Allen Carr and hypnotherapist Paul McKenna.  This was the same across the nation, as reported in our article Cigarette Ban Increases Hypnosis Book Sales.

Allen Carr, who has unfortunately now passed away, developed his own easy way to stop smoking. His books have sold millions worldwide and along with Paul McKenna’s own smoking cessation books, are bestsellers year after year. As noted in our previous article Cigarette Ban Increases Hypnosis Book Sales, both authors books have topped the bestseller lists following the recent smoking ban in England and Wales.

There are various Allen Carr Stop Smoking clinics running all over the world. Find your nearest clinic

Read The Daily article online

Figures in Ireland and Scotland also fell following the introduction of their smoking bans, although cigarette manufacturers say that their sales levels then usually improve over time.

Cigarette manufacturers are expected to increase prices in order to get their revenue back to its usual level. Health group ASH hopes that this will encourage more people to give up smoking altogether.

According to the bookstore chain, Borders, sales of hypnosis anti-smoking books have risen by more than 260 per cent since the ban so it certainly seems that people are trying to give up. Paul McKenna’s and the late Allen Carr’s books have been flying off the shelves.

Self-hypnosis CD’s and books can be very effective, depending upon the person’s reason for giving up smoking and what drives them to smoke in the first place so if they don’t work, don’t give up. Instead, go and see a qualified hypnotherapist to have a custom smoking cessation session.

Hypnotherapists must already have completed a diploma in hypnotherapy. Attendees will receive a specialised certificate in evidence-based smoking cessation therapy and this certificate can also be used as evidence when registering for the Central Register for Smoking Cessation Therapists. This course will also count for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

The next course is to be held on Saturday 16th February 2008 at a cost of just £99 plus VAT. A guest may also attend free of charge and a prospectus can be downloaded online.

On average, each method had an average success rate of 19 per cent.  The group of people with the highest success rate was patients with serious cardiac health problems with a success rate of 36 per cent. 

However, amongst most smokers, the most successful treatment was hypnosis where patients were given suggestions whilst in a relaxed trance.  The success rate was 30 per cent.

The second highest success rate was combination therapy, such as combining exercise and breathing methods, with 29 per cent.  Having your own stale cigarette smoke blown back at you had a surprising 25 per cent success rate and acupuncture can fourth with 24 per cent.

The least successful was GP advice, which convinced almost no-one.  Sheer willpower alone achieved a mere 6 per cent, followed closely by self-help books and magazines with 9 per cent and nicotine gum at 10 per cent.

Hypnotherapy can be highly successful at smoking cessation, in as little as one session.  The British Society of Medical & Dental Hypnosis, now incorporated into the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis stated that the latest techniques have been as successful at 60 per cent from a single session.  The key to success is you must want it enough, as hypnotherapy cannot make you do what you don’t want to do.  It’s not enough to turn up and it’s not enough to want to do it for your partner or other reasons.  You have to want it for you.