Everyone now knows that smoking is bad for health, yet there are still millions of people that smoke. Some do so as a form of rebellion, some are addicted to the products in cigarettes and others do so to relieve stress. The main reason given at the Clinic, however, is habit.

Even though smoking is regarded as a slow poison, it is still not easy to bring it to an end. When clients visit the Clinic, one of the first questions we ask is "why do you want to stop smoking?" There may be good reasons to stop, but that does not mean that it will stop. We had a visitor at the Clinic that had a serious heart problem; his doctor told him to stop smoking immediately or there would be very serious consequences. After a discussion with us he said that he was not yet ready to stop smoking.

Smokers fall into two main categories, the habit smokers and the compulsive smokers. Habit smokers associate cigarettes with, say, a cup of coffee, they go together. It is just a case of breaking the link between the two.

When someone is a compulsive smoker, there is a psychological need to smoke. In this case it is necessary to investigate the cause and to deal with it. There may also be some habit in addition, but this is easier to deal with.

The success rate in the UK of using hypnosis to stop smoking is about 85%. The Clinic has a success rate of over 90% and this is possibly because we spend a considerable amount of time preparing our clients.

One factor that seems to emerge regularly is the weight gain when someone stops smoking. If this is a concern, Clinic staff can take this into account when phrasing the suggestions in hypnosis.

You don't need to be told to stop smoking; you just need to do it. Let the Clinic help you.