How to Stop Smoking: Can Self-Hypnosis Help?

Deciding to stop smoking can be surprisingly complicated.

You may genuinely want to quit and understand all the reasons why stopping would be good for you, yet still find yourself reaching for a cigarette almost automatically. Perhaps you've stopped before but started again, or maybe the thought of dealing with cravings makes you reluctant to try.

That's because smoking isn't simply one habit.

Nicotine is addictive, but smoking also becomes closely connected with everyday routines, emotions and situations. A cigarette with your morning coffee, after a meal, while driving, when you're stressed or when you're socialising can become so familiar that the situation itself seems to trigger the urge to smoke.

I'm Sharon Shinwell, a UK Clinical Hypnotherapist with more than 25 years' experience, and I previously worked as an NHS Smoking Cessation Advisor. That experience gave me the opportunity to work directly with people trying to stop smoking and to see just how important both the physical and behavioural sides of smoking can be.

There are now several established ways of getting help to quit smoking. Self-hypnosis shouldn't be regarded as a replacement for these, but it may be used as an additional way of working with the habits, triggers and thought patterns associated with smoking.

Why Is It So Difficult to Stop Smoking?

There are two important parts of smoking that can become intertwined.

The first is nicotine dependence.

Nicotine affects the brain and can create physical dependence. When you stop smoking, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as cravings, irritability, restlessness and difficulty concentrating.

The second is the behavioural habit.

Think about when you normally smoke.

It might be:

• first thing in the morning

• with tea or coffee

• after eating

• while driving

• during a work break

• when drinking alcohol

• when you're stressed

• when you're with other smokers

After hundreds or thousands of repetitions, these situations can become strongly associated with cigarettes.

That's why successfully stopping smoking can involve more than simply deciding not to buy another packet. You're also changing routines that may have been part of your life for many years.

Understanding Your Smoking Triggers

One of the things I learned through smoking-cessation work is the value of understanding what prompts a cigarette.

For a few days, start noticing what happens immediately before you smoke.

Ask yourself:

Did I genuinely decide to have this cigarette, or did something trigger it?

Perhaps you've finished a meal and automatically stand up and go outside.

Perhaps you've received a stressful phone call.

Perhaps somebody you're with has lit a cigarette.

Or perhaps you've reached a particular time of day when you normally smoke.

Recognising these triggers gives you the opportunity to plan a different response.

If you'd like to understand more about how repeated behaviours become automatic, my guide to breaking bad habits explains how triggers and routines can keep unwanted habits going.

What Can Help You Stop Smoking?

There isn't one approach that everybody has to use.

Current NHS stop-smoking options include nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), nicotine-free stop-smoking medicines, nicotine vapes for adult smokers who are quitting, and professional behavioural support. Your GP, pharmacist or local Stop Smoking Service can help you decide what is appropriate for you.

NRT includes products such as patches, gum, lozenges, inhalators and sprays. These provide nicotine without the harmful chemicals produced by smoking tobacco and can help manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

There are also nicotine-free medicines that can help with cravings and withdrawal.

The important point is that you don't have to rely entirely on willpower.

And using one form of support doesn't necessarily prevent you from using another. Someone might, for example, use appropriate stop-smoking treatment to help with nicotine withdrawal while also working on the routines and psychological associations connected with cigarettes.

Make a Plan Before You Stop

Rather than simply waking up one morning and hoping you won't smoke, spend some time preparing.

Think about your most predictable smoking situations.

If you always smoke with your morning coffee, what are you going to do differently?

If you smoke during your work break, where will you go instead?

If driving triggers the urge to smoke, what could replace the familiar routine?

If stress is a trigger, what will you do when you've had a difficult day?

You're effectively creating a new response before the old situation occurs.

This is also one of the areas where mental rehearsal can be useful.

What Happens When You Get a Craving?

A craving can feel like an instruction:

Have a cigarette.

But an urge doesn't mean you have to act on it.

Instead, begin to recognise it for what it is — a temporary feeling that you can respond to differently.

Have something else ready to do.

Move around. Drink some water. Use an appropriate stop-smoking aid if that's part of your quit plan. Change your environment. Focus your attention on something else.

Most importantly, don't spend the entire time arguing with yourself about whether you should smoke.

You're practising a new response to an old trigger.

Over time, situations that once automatically meant cigarette can begin to become ordinary situations again.

Can Hypnosis Help You Stop Smoking?

This is where it's important to be realistic.

Hypnosis should not be presented as a guaranteed way to stop smoking, nor as a replacement for established smoking-cessation treatments.

However, self-hypnosis can be used to work with some of the behavioural and psychological aspects of smoking.

During hypnosis, you are guided into a relaxed, focused state. You remain aware and in control, but your attention can be directed towards the changes you consciously want to make.

Suggestions and mental rehearsal might focus on seeing yourself responding differently to familiar smoking triggers, becoming more comfortable with your identity as a non-smoker, and reinforcing the reasons you've chosen to quit.

If you're unfamiliar with hypnosis, my complete guide to self-hypnosis explains how it works, what happens during a session and the types of problems for which people commonly use it.

How Can Self-Hypnosis Work With Smoking Triggers?

Imagine that one of your strongest associations is:

Finish dinner → cigarette.

Simply removing the cigarette leaves a familiar moment in which something seems to be missing.

With hypnosis and mental rehearsal, you can repeatedly imagine finishing your meal and moving comfortably into something different.

Or perhaps your pattern is:

Feel stressed → smoke.

The therapeutic focus might instead be on recognising the stress, allowing yourself to settle and responding without automatically reaching for a cigarette.

Another common association is:

Coffee → cigarette.

Again, you can mentally rehearse enjoying your coffee without smoking and becoming increasingly comfortable with that new routine.

The aim isn't to pretend nicotine withdrawal doesn't exist.

It's to work with the learned associations surrounding smoking while any physical nicotine dependence is addressed appropriately.

What Happens During a Stop-Smoking Self-Hypnosis MP3?

A self-hypnosis recording normally begins by helping you become physically and mentally relaxed.

As your attention becomes more focused, the recording can introduce suggestions and imagery relating to the changes you want to make.

With stopping smoking, that might include mentally rehearsing situations in which you previously smoked, imagining yourself responding differently to triggers and reinforcing your reasons for becoming a non-smoker.

I've created a Quit Smoking Self-Hypnosis MP3 for people who want additional support with the behavioural and psychological side of stopping smoking.

The recording isn't intended to replace NRT, prescribed stop-smoking medicines, professional smoking-cessation support or medical advice. It can instead be used as a complementary part of your overall quit-smoking plan.

What If You've Tried to Stop Smoking Before?

Previous attempts don't mean you can't succeed.

In fact, they can give you useful information.

Instead of simply thinking I tried before and failed, ask:

What caused me to start smoking again?

Was it stress?

Alcohol?

Being around other smokers?

A difficult event?

Did you believe that having just one cigarette wouldn't matter?

Did you stop using your smoking-cessation support too soon?

Identifying what happened last time allows you to prepare for that situation differently.

What If You Slip and Have a Cigarette?

One cigarette doesn't have to become a packet.

A common problem with changing any habit is all-or-nothing thinking.

Someone who hasn't smoked for several weeks has one cigarette and thinks:

That's it. I've ruined it.

That thought can then become permission to start smoking regularly again.

A more useful response is:

What happened? What triggered that cigarette, and what can I learn from it?

Then return to your quit plan.

The important thing is preventing a temporary slip from becoming a complete return to the old routine.

Stress and Smoking

Stress is one of the most common reasons people give for smoking.

The cigarette can become a little pause in the day — a reason to stop what you're doing, step outside and take a few minutes for yourself.

That means stopping smoking may also require finding another way to create that pause.

If stress is one of your main smoking triggers, it can be helpful to work on the stress itself rather than simply removing the cigarette.

My guide to self-hypnosis for stress relief looks at ways of managing stress and using relaxation and self-hypnosis to help you switch off.

How Often Should You Listen to Stop-Smoking Hypnosis?

Hypnosis isn't something where you need to prove that you can change after listening once.

Repeated listening gives you more opportunities to mentally rehearse the responses and mindset you're trying to establish.

You might listen regularly around your planned quit date and during the early period after stopping, particularly if you find that reinforcement helpful.

Always listen somewhere safe where you can relax without interruption.

Never listen to a hypnosis recording while driving, operating machinery or doing anything requiring your full attention.

Should You Use Nicotine Replacement as Well?

You don't have to choose between addressing nicotine dependence and working on the habitual side of smoking.

NRT can help reduce nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms. NHS guidance includes patches, gum, lozenges, inhalators and sprays among the established options, and combinations of longer-acting and faster-acting NRT can be particularly useful.

Self-hypnosis serves a different purpose.

Someone might therefore use NRT or another appropriate stop-smoking treatment while also using hypnosis to work on smoking routines, triggers and associations.

If you're unsure which stop-smoking products are appropriate for you, speak to your pharmacist, GP or local Stop Smoking Service.

When Should You Get Professional Help to Stop Smoking?

There's no reason you have to stop smoking entirely on your own.

NHS Stop Smoking Services offer professional advice and support and can help with access to stop-smoking treatments.

Your GP or pharmacist can also advise you about appropriate options.

If you've repeatedly tried to quit without success, experience strong nicotine withdrawal, have health concerns, are pregnant, or aren't sure which treatment is suitable for you, getting professional advice is particularly worthwhile.

Using professional support doesn't make your attempt less independent. It simply gives you more tools to work with.

Frequently Asked Questions About Self-Hypnosis and Stopping Smoking

Can hypnosis make me stop smoking?

Hypnosis can't force you to stop smoking or make decisions for you. You need to want to quit. Self-hypnosis may be used to support the behavioural changes you've consciously decided to make, particularly around smoking triggers, routines and associations.

Does hypnosis remove nicotine cravings?

Hypnosis shouldn't be presented as a treatment for physical nicotine dependence. Evidence-based stop-smoking aids such as NRT and certain medicines are specifically designed to help with cravings and withdrawal. Self-hypnosis is better regarded as a possible way of supporting the behavioural and psychological aspects of quitting.

Can I use a hypnosis MP3 with nicotine patches?

Self-hypnosis and NRT address different aspects of stopping smoking, so using hypnosis doesn't mean you have to avoid established stop-smoking aids. Speak to your pharmacist, GP or Stop Smoking Service if you need advice about which nicotine products are appropriate for you.

How long does it take for stop-smoking hypnosis to work?

There isn't a reliable timeframe that applies to everyone, and it would be misleading to promise that one hypnosis session will make somebody permanently stop smoking. Regular listening may help reinforce the behavioural changes you're making as part of your wider quit-smoking plan.

What if I've smoked for many years?

Long-established habits can still be changed. However, smoking for many years often means there are numerous routines and situations associated with cigarettes. Identifying those individual triggers and planning alternative responses can therefore be particularly useful.

Is self-hypnosis enough to stop smoking?

For some people, the behavioural side of smoking is only one part of the difficulty. Nicotine dependence can also be significant. Current NHS advice encourages smokers to consider established stop-smoking products and professional support rather than relying solely on willpower.

Becoming a Non-Smoker

Stopping smoking isn't simply about repeatedly telling yourself:

I mustn't smoke.

It's also about learning how to have your morning coffee without a cigarette.

How to finish a meal without smoking.

How to deal with stress differently.

How to spend time with other smokers without automatically joining them.

And how to recognise an urge without assuming that you have to act on it.

Those are learned changes.

Having worked both as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and as an NHS Smoking Cessation Advisor, I've seen how important it can be to approach smoking from more than one direction.

Use the help that's available to deal with nicotine dependence. Understand your triggers. Prepare for the situations in which you used to smoke. And if self-hypnosis is something you'd like to use alongside those approaches, use it to reinforce the new choices and routines you're building.

Stopping smoking isn't about proving how much willpower you have.

It's about giving yourself the best possible support to make the change you have decided to make.