James' story

James is one of our many success stories

Q Tell me about your old smoking habit James. How many cigarettes did you smoke and for how long, before you visited thespencepractice?

A “I was smoking 30 a day (and sucking nicotine lozenges at times when I wasn’t allowed to smoke) when I first met Andrew at the end of March 2010. I had been smoking for almost 17 years and had tried to quit on 4 or 5 occasions before.” 

Q What smoking cessation methods had you tried before? 

A “I lasted less than 1 day using willpower alone. I managed to stop smoking for 3 weeks whilst chewing nicotine gum. I also stopped for a similar period after reading Alan Carr’s book. I stopped for 3 months whilst on patches and lozenges combined, so I never got nicotine out of my system and subsequently became a smoker, who also used lozenges when I was in environments where I couldn’t smoke. I was totally addicted to nicotine and was taking nicotine into my body for nearly all my waking hours.” 

Q Andrew, how do you help someone who has such a strong addiction to nicotine? 

A “The problem for James and many other people I see, is that they think and/or believe that they are physically dependant on nicotine. Nicotine replacement, as a strategy for stopping smoking, seems to reinforce this way of thinking. In view of this I had to help James to change his thinking and beliefs and convince him consciously and subconsciously that his body wasn’t crying out for nicotine. He believed it was and beliefs can be extremely powerful in reinforcing a pattern of behaviour. 

So instead of replacing cigarettes with other forms of nicotine, I gave James a structured plan to reduce nicotine levels (without any form of replacement) gradually, over a 7 day period, sandwiched between 2 sessions of hypnotherapy. 

I also gave him advice on how to manage blood-sugar fluctuations and how to avoid craving sugary foods as a substitute for cigarettes once he stopped smoking. This approach can help avoid weight increase after quitting. 

The 2 sessions of hypnotherapy, combined with a 7 day behaviour modification programme helped to break the psychological, behavioural and emotional aspects of the smoking addiction”. 

Q James, what do you think was the most significant factor in your success? 

A The ‘weaning off’ of nicotine over a 7 day period, combined with the steps in between sessions were crucial to my success. I have recommended Andrew’s approach to others and will continue to do so, as I continue to benefit from saving lots of money, tasting food once more and really appreciating my sense of smell”.

Stop Smoking