Hypnotherapy has long been used as an alternative therapy. However, the proponents of hypnotherapy believe that there can be many uses and benefits of this type of therapy and therefore, it should be counted amongst mainstream treatments. While debates on whether hypnotherapy can be inducted into mainstream medicine still rage, studies have shown that hypnotherapy is an effective method for getting people to quit smoking.

Hypnotherapy

The simple hypothesis of these studies was that with hypnotherapy, the underlying impulses of the human mind can be tapped in order to weaken the impulse and the desire to smoke. Alternatively, the impulses can also be tapped to strengthen the will of a person who has already taken a conscious decision to quit.

In its efforts to popularize hypnotherapy, concerned associations have started to circulate the findings of recent research that has been conducted to establish a positive relationship between hypnotherapy and smoking cessation. For this study, a meta-research on about 600 studies with a rough sample size of about 72,000 test subjects was carried out. The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group rosters were searched to identify test subjects. On these subjects, randomized hypnotherapy trials were carried out, and to benchmark the success of the therapy a period of six months from the date of the baseline trials was fixed.

The measure of the outcome of the research was based on cessation of smoking by the subject after six months of the therapy. Complete randomization was observed and each subject was tested to get bio chemically affirmative results.

The meta analysis was carried out on the background and type of subjects, the methods used for randomizing results, and the nature of follow up. The research concluded that hypnotherapy resulted in a greater 'quit rate' after six months as compared to other therapies, advice, or medication. In fact, hypnotherapy was found to be at least three times more effective than replacement therapy which is also a popular choice for those seeking to quit smoking.

The usual practice of therapists is to offer a single session for the cessation of smoking followed by free follow up sessions. In the initial session, the hypnotherapist aims to collect personal information in order to identify the reasons for wanting to quit. Positive affirmations, suggestions, and hypnotherapy are then used to cultivate suggestions in the sub conscious mind. As a follow up, the therapists often give out CDs or smoking cessation tapes so that the suggestion that has been planted in the session can thus be reinforced.