The idea behind hypnotherapy and smoking cessation is that hypnosis works on a smoker’s subconscious, and either weakens the desire to smoke, increases the will to stop, or increases concentration (Spiegal 1993)and compliance to treatment programmes.

hypnotherapy sessions these days are a variation of Spiegal’s ‘one session, three point’ method: using deep concentration to modify a smoker’s perception. The smoker is instructed that a) smoking is a poison, b) the body is entitled to protection from smoke, and c) there are advantages to life as a nonsmoker (Spiegel 1964)

This method also involves self hypnosis which Katz suggests may be just as important as a session with the hypnotherapist. Self-hypnosis can be used at any time by the smoker, has a higher compliance rate, lower cost and only 1 session is needed. Uncontrolled studies reported success rates of 20 to 35% (Abbot 1998)

The Cochrane library has done a review of literature regarding hypnosis and smoking cessation, concluding that there was not enough evidence to say that hypnosis helps individuals quit smoking at 6 months. However, the author acknowledged that there was great variability in the types of hypnotic induction, length and control groups, thus making evaluation difficult. This lack of evidence is not isolated to hypnosis but to other behavioral intervention studies like ‘aversive smoking’ (Hajek 1997). Recently, there has been another study comparing hypnotherapy with NRP. The preliminary results of the study (Faysal, Oct 2007) showed that using hypnotherapy (50%) was more effective than going “cold turkey” (25%) or using NRP alone (15.78%). Despite being a non-randomised trial, it does perhaps provide enough evidence to warrant further investigation into hypnotherapy as a quitting technique.

Suggestibility: This is perhaps the most important factor for you as the reader. Hypnotic suggestibility is a measurement of how effective hypnosis can be in stopping smoking. The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (for groups) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales (for individuals) are used to predict if hypnosis will be effective for you. The Stanford test consist of 3 forms with 12 items of progressive difficulty and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. A suggestion is the ‘light test‘: Go into a dark room and stare at a small light source. For many people, the light seem to be moving. Those who see it change direction the most are thought to be suitable for hypnosis.

Conclusion: Does hypnosis stop smoking? Well, it would be important to check if you are susceptible to hypnosis or not. Even studio audiences at hypnosis shows are tested before being allowed inside, so you should to. At the very least hypnosis can be very useful due to its non-specific factors like contact with a trained therapist and support. One session might be enough to teach you techniques to increase concentration or even achieve meditation. Self-hypnosis would be useful to any smoker determined to quit