End of year updates and news

My blog postings have been a bit spradic this year and partly to make up for that I thought I'd have an end of splurge on news stories that tweaked my interest recently. Then I'll move into Old Moore's Almanack territory and attempt to do some predictions for 2011; without the aid of planetary charts!

Smokers to be given free Nicotine patches
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1341706/Smokers-given-free-nicotine-patches-NHS.html
As reported in the Daily Mail and elsewhere, the UK Department of Health is to spend £250 Million on smoker "Quit Kits" which will include a week's supply of Nicotine patches. The idea of this approach being to help would be quitters through the first few days of not smoking.

I'm not convinced this will be money well spent though; around 20% of the population still smoke, some two thirds are said to want to stop. (The numbers always seem to be rather vague with few sources cited.)

However what I see is young people, especially girls, still starting to smoke (from 13 years upwards judging by my town) as a way of defining their adultness. Ask a 13 year old or a 16 year old what they think their life will be like when they are 30 and you may as well as them what the moon is like. They have no idea and no sense of the potential damage that smoking does to one's health. So they won't stop until film makers and TV program makers stop portraying smoking as 'cool' by association with the stars of the day. That is bigger and much more difficult challenge than handing out nicotine patches.

The challenge with older long established smokers is to deal with the habitual and conditioned responses that smokers have. Hypnotherapy is great for that.

When hypnotherapy CPD goes bad.
A former hypnotherapy student of mine called just before Christmas to wish me the best for the season. As we chatted about her year, she talked about a "Continuing Professional Development" (CPD) course she had attended on rapid inductions in a clinical setting.

Normally these events are fairly mellow with a nice spirit of friendly co-operation and active learning (the attendees pay for the course after all). But on this course it seems that the trainer and his assistants were more interested in getting applause for how good they were than ensuring that the training was effective.

Some of the techniques used involving rapid movements of the head/neck could, according to this lady have been dangerous. (She had to refuse a personal demonstration by an assistant due to previous damage to her own neck/spine. However the trainers did not point out the simple yet obvious conclusion that for some clients this method would be completely wrong and potentially dangerous. That ought to be a cause for some concern.

Congruence?
I know it is sometimes said that when a therapist has dealt with all their own issues they will no longer work with others but there has to be a sense of congruence to be a successful therapist.

If you are a fat lady or gent offering weight loss sessions then perhaps you should start with yourself first?

This idea of being congruent or in alignment with some core values is often used in Neuro Linguistic Programming but surely it applies just as much for hypnotherapy?

It seems that some the 'therapists' attending the training session previously spoken about were not aware that without that congruence positive change was unlikely to happen.

Sucessfully quitting smoking

I had an email recently from a man who said "I have been trying to give up smoking for years and years."

Two things struck me about that one comment (and I do tend to hear them a good deal):

1) "Trying"....trying implies failing. "I'll try and get that done by Wednesday" really means you won't see it until Friday. In other words it's a socially acceptable cop out. Harsh I know, but how often have you heard someone say "Well I said I'd try...." as they failed to deliver what you thought was a done deal.

2) "Giving up" What do those two words say to you? Think about the times when you said them, even drift back to childhood when perhaps you "gave up" chocolate for lent. (Does that still happen?) You really wanted the chocolate but for some other life affirming reason you decided not to have it.

Now think about those words in the context of smoking. "giving up" sounds like you still want to smoke. Subconsciously the desire to smoke is the same, it's just that pesky conscious part of mind that worries about negative health effects that wants to stop.


What's the alternative?

Don't try, just stop
Sometimes you'll be successful in stopping for a long time and sometimes not.


Don't "give up"
Decide to focus on what you want (to be a non-smoker). The only things you are giving up are the very negative health impacts of smoking. Decide simply to be a non-smoker.

The words you use to yourself have far more power than you know.

Smokers, excuses and waiting and waiting and waiting

Why do smokers do it?

Why do they make the phone call to a hypnotherapist and say “You’re my last hope”, no pressure then…

Often a long phone call follows as they satisfy themselves that you do know what the hell you’re talking about and a booking is made for some mutually suitable date in the diary.

Then, as in a recent case with me, the following happens:

1) You get ready with your kit for the session, in my case, books, CDs and similar

2) You arrive at the clinic in good time and prepare the room (I work from a health centre)

3) You’re ready but you check your notes that were taken on the phone and…

4) You wait

5) And you wait

6) And you decide to call the client

“Hi xxx” I say “did you remember that we have a quit smoking session booked for today?”

Client: “Oh yea”

Me: “Is there a problem, do you need directions? (It’s a call to a mobile)

Client: “Uh no, I wont be coming, I’m just back from hospital” (Blatant grasp for sympathy)

Me:”Oh, dear, what’s happened?” (I’m going for concern but my excuseometer detector is off the dial)

Client “It’s me boy in’it. He’s got bronchitis, had an attack and we had to take him in” (It’s not my fault I’m not there and you can’t argue with this one mate)

Me: “Right…so you won’t be in today. Would you like to rebook for next week” (I know she is never going to re-book)

Client: “Yea, yea, I’ll give you a call next week”

Me: “OK bye”

If what she said was true has she ever considered just why her boy might have bronchitis? Could smoking in the home and car have something to do with it?

Some people are just so challenged by making a change that staying in the same place is the only option they feel they have. Of course it’s not always great being where they are but still the thought of change scares them so much they are paralysed by inaction and go back to watching the master hypnotist in the corner of the room. (The TV)

This clinic scene has been played out enough times now that I’m bored with it. It costs me time and money and the ‘would be’ client is still puffing away like there is no tomorrow; which for them may be true.

So recognising that you can lead the client to change but you can make them do it, I have changed.

I did think about not doing quit smoking work any more but in the end came up with the idea of getting folks to pay fully in advance. It builds motivation in the client and it means that I’m not out of pocket if they don’t show.

Does that sound harsh? Perhaps, but for me to continue doing this work, first of all, I as a therapist have to survive. Having other people waste my time and money makes that all the more difficult.

By the way any smokers that do actually want to stop and stay stopped can contact me. The cost for the work is £195 for a two session package. If you want to book, expect to get your credit or debit card out whilst on the phone……….you know why.

Does hypnosis help you stop smoking?

I was called by a local newspaper recently to ask if I wanted to take part in their National No Smoking Day advertising campaign. No Smoking Day is on the 11th of March and in the past this would have been an easy choice to make; just say yes and sort out the advert. But I didn't do this and in a moment I'll explain why.

Many people are aware that hypnosis is by far the most effective way to become a non-smoker...as long as it is done well. Part of the problem with any quit smoking method is effectively measuring the results. With so many variables to work with it is difficult to know how effective each method is.

Typically hypnosis is believed to have about a 30% effectiveness when it has been measured in the past. This compares with a 3-5% success rate by going cold turkey. In my own practice I believe my success rate is around 70-75%, though admittedly this is not a scientific measurement.

Some time ago I was taken to task by an NHS quit smoking adviser for promoting hypnosis as an aid to stopping smoking. She explained that in her NHS work she had seen a number of people for whom hypnosis had not been successful. And yet if a drug was useful 30% of the time it would be hailed as a success. The conversation was interesting (and rather testy at times), Smoking advisers are paid per client by the NHS regardless of outcome so you might say we were competitors in the market.

During this exchange of views (that happened by email) I explained that hypnosis forms one part of what I do in a quit smoking session, I also use counseling, audio CDs and EFT. The effect was magical when I mentioned EFT; "Oh that's a wonderful method...but they won't let me use it in NHS sessions".

So in the end I had an admission from an NHS quit smoking adviser that there were better methods than she used to help a person become a non-smoker than those used by the NHS.

So back to the story of the advert; did I spend money and book it? No. Because there is simply no way a single therapist can compete with an NHS budget in millions. Trying to fight that battle is the road to ruin.

But if you do want to become a non-smoker, a combination of hypnosis and EFT is just about the most effective way to go.