Alice is a slim 50 year old woman, with no children, living with her parents. She started smoking when she was 18 years old. She told me how much trouble she got into when she first started smoking; “my parents were furious” she said. But that did not stop her from smoking. She also said: “at the age of 18 smoking made me feel more grown up and a bit of a rebel”.

But those rebellious feelings from back then, when she was a teenager, were no longer relevant. Smoking now as an adult, seemed like a very bad idea. She now wanted to be healthy and smoke free.

Together we worked out what was important for her to reach her individual needs before I guided her into hypnosis.

We started the hypnotic part of the session with her eyes open, until she was comfortable enough, and when she closed her eyes she relaxed deeper.

Therapeutic language was used to help her remain a non-smoker who is calm and in control. After all, who better than her to be in control over the way she feels, thinks and responds in all situations.

I want to also mention here, that at the same time she was learning how to reproduce the hypnotic experience at home, as self-hypnosis.

Suggestions I gave her were intended to help her make lasting changes. So that no matter where she was, who she was with or what she was doing, she would do so as a happy non-smoker.

Just as importantly, I want to clearly mention some further beneficial suggestions were made to reduce her fear of putting on weight. Again, therapeutic language was used to help her maintain her healthy shape and size. The goal was to eat healthy smaller meals. Also to be motivated to exercise regularly, to stay in shape.

During the session people often find time distortion is a big part of their experience. What seemed to have been a short time turns out to a substantial amount of time. While the body was relaxing the mind was focused on using inner resources to make valuable changes.