Smoking beliefs and resources

In order to replace the beliefs the client holds about smoking you must first identify what those beliefs are. This checklist of questions about stopping smoking is used to remind the therapist to cover every relevant aspect to reveal why, when and how the client smokes. It may also identify resources the client has that can be used to help stop smoking. These answers provide a collection of targets and resources to use during hypnosis to stop smoking.

The therapist would not normally ask all these questions directly. Most of the information will come out naturally as the client describes their smoking behaviour. The check list is just to ensure that no potentially useful areas are missed.

As well as being a source of resources for the therapist, the constant reiteration of 'How will you stop, when will you stop, what will people think when you stop' etc. works on the client by priming the subconscious mind to think about stopping even before the session begins.

The Behaviour After Stopping section is important. Most clients have no clear idea of what life would be like after they give up. The literally cannot imagine it. They are unlikely to offer this information unprompted, so any time spent in this section will put positive images into their mind that can be used as a resource once the session starts.