I’ve been asked a few times why, in the various mediums I have published case studies, I have never posted or published smoking cessation or weight loss case studies. The short answer is that these two treatments are extremely common and are usually among the easiest sessions a hypnotherapist is likely to come across. However, a few people have asked so I’ve selected case studies in these areas that might be more interesting or more difficult than average and will be among the case studies that I am adding over the coming week.
I selected this case for the smoking cessation study as it was a group session consisting of an age range from 24-74. Within this range are different habit patterns, different reasons to quit etc, making the session far more difficult than treating each case individually.
A basic profile of the five clients (a family) and their tobacco habit:
The two youngest in the group were a young couple aged 24 and 27, the next two were the lady’s parents and then 5th was her 74 year old grandmother. As with the majority of smokers, all five reported that stress was the major trigger for smoking and the most difficult time to go without.
Male aged 24: Smoked 20 per day and started at age 11. Didn’t smoke in his home, had to have a cigarette first thing in the morning or he would be grumpy. Longest previous quit time was three days and described it as “hell” and felt a constant tension in his jaw.
Female aged 27: Smoked 10-15 menthol cigarettes per day, started at age 17. Didn’t smoke in her home, would go without a cigarette often until mid morning. Smokes more when overweight and said that she smoked partially to keep her weight down. Disliked the taste of cigarettes and as well as smoking menthol, always had to have some kind of drink with a cigarette. Longest previous quit time was two days, started again as she found that she had replaced smoking with alcohol.
Female aged 44: Smoked 20 “Superkings” per day, started at age 11. Very grumpy until she had her first cigarette in the morning and would smoke in her kitchen at home and found that driving was a time when she would smoke a lot. Longest previous quit time was 10 years with hypnotherapy, unfortunately the other hypnotherapist obviously hadn’t done his job properly as she reported being “angry for the whole ten years” until starting again.
Male aged 57: Originally smoked 80 per day but after having a stroke, had reduced it to 20-30 per day as a mixture of cigarettes and rolling tobacco. He started at age 10 and when he was growing up, everyone he knew smoked. He would smoke four cigarettes in the first hour of waking up and had previously smoked up to 40 cigarettes in a single three hour car journey. Longest previous quit time was 3 years but started again through stress.
Female aged 74: Smoked 10 low tar cigarettes per day having gradually cut down over the previous six months (from 20 per day). Started at age 11/12. 1st cigarette of the day was not until after she had walked her dogs, she only smoked indoors. Smoked heavily while watching TV in the evening and always with a cup of tea or coffee. Longest previous quit time was a few months but started again after witnessing an air accident.
So, as you can see, a mixture of ages as well as a mixture of success with previous quit attempts. The father (male 57) was quite difficult to work with due to his previous stroke and I felt that he was likely to need a further session on his own. I heard from the family several months later. The young couple had given up easily, the mother had given up but this time without the anger, the grandmother had also given up easily. The father was the only one who did not give up, I offered the further session (free of charge, see my website for details) but his wife informed me that they didn’t really expect him to in the first place and that he had cut down considerably and not to worry.
The session, including consultation, lasted just two hours the same as an individual session. As well as the obvious health benefits, the four who gave up completely have so far saved over £9,000 between them and to my knowledge have remained quit (I have treated other family members since then who confirmed this).
Posted by okehypnotherapy 