Trying to quit smoking? Hypnotherapy worked for me!

  (AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

I was in college, I was stressed, and needed something with my coffee in the morning and beer at night, that's when I started a ten year habit of smoking the cancer stick.  Thinking about it now makes my stomach turn, oh the things we did when we were young!  Upon graduating college I decided enough was enough and tried unsuccessfully for the next six years to quit.  Gums, patches, herbal medicines, you name it, I did it, and it didn't work!  Then I decided to take a cue from my policeman father who used to hypnotize witnesses of crimes and called my local hypnotherapist.  I live in Los Angeles, there is one on every block!

My initial phone conversation with the hypnotherapist was to discuss why I wanted to quit smoking, how long I have been smoking and some steps to take before our first session.  The first thing I had to do was get rid of my cigarette paraphernalia.  That's easy!  The next step was to bring my last pack of cigarettes with me, smoke one before the session and have a break up conversation with it.  I thought, "What the hell!  It won't be the first time strangers saw me talking to inanimate objects!"  So I smoked it up outside the office and when I was done I held the cigarette in my right hand (the smoking hand with the tobacco stain on it) and said; "Look, we had some great times together, and a lot of fun,  but now I feel we are moving in different directions and I need to end this relationship".  With that I ashed it out and threw away my last pack.

When I got to her office she sat me down in a chair and put me "under".  She had me visualize myself ten years from now as a smoker.  I saw this sorry, wrinkly old hag coughing up a lung.  Gross!  Then she had me visualize myself ten years from now as a non smoker.  Oh boy!  I saw this stunning, blonde beauty with her hair blowing in the wind.  It was like something out of a rad 80's music video!  The hypnotherapist told me from now on when I see red it will stop me from craving cigarettes.  Then she brought me back and gave me a CD to listen to every night before bed.  She scheduled a follow up appointment in two weeks to cement the deal.

As I left her office I started noticing everything red!  Tail lights, street lights, a red scarf hanging from a balcony, you would be surprised how much red is in this world.  Generally I would need a ciggy after something like that, but I didn't crave one.  I haven't smoked since!  My teeth are white again, I run a few miles a day, I have more energy at 30 than I did at 25!

This was by far the best $279 I have ever spent!  I highly recommend hypnosis for all of you "trying to quit" smokers out there!

Link to my hypnotherapist based in Los Angeles, CA: Melissa Skirboll
Link to Smokefree.gov
Follow me on twitter: @lajournalist