I’ve been doing hypnotherapy for quite some time now. Long enough that I have many happy former smokers as happy former clients, and long enough that I have been able to notice some interesting trends; for instance, the tendency for great outcomes when helping people from Bury St. Edmunds stop smoking.

I don’t know if it’s the type of marketing I first did, or if it’s because I offer a guarantee, or if it was something else, but when I first started working as a hypnotherapist I quickly began to work with lots of people who wanted to stop smoking.

As a reformed smoker myself, I find this work fascinating. I have made it my mission to understand the issue as deeply as I can, and to help as many people as possible to use hypnosis to quit.

Trends in those who want to stop smoking

There are a few types of smokers. All of them want to stop smoking, none of them want to be a smoker for life, but the attitudes to the actual task of stopping vary from eager to fearful to confident to sceptical, and everything in between.

I’m sure you can guess which ones find it easiest and are most likely to have no cravings or relapses. (hint: it’s the ones with the positive attitudes.)

What you may not guess is a trend I spotted anecdotally; in many cases people who come to see me from Bury St. Edmunds stop smoking more easily than people from other areas.

Before having my own premises I used to work from a few different locations, helping people to stop smoking with hypnosis all over Suffolk and Essex, and I have helped lots of people stop smoking in Bury St. Edmunds specifically.

At that time I wondered if it might be the location I was using. Maybe the place I worked from in Bury St. Edmunds had something special the other locations were lacking? I couldn’t see it, but maybe there was something about the therapy room that made people feel more positive and comfortable?

Since the coronavirus pandemic, I’m only doing online hypnotherapy, but the trend has not abated. So I decided try and figure out what is common to those who come to see me from Bury St. Edmunds, and to compare that with those who come from other places.

My aim was to apply this insight to my work and to share it with all my clients, regardless of where they are from.

What we can learn from this.

After working with many smokers, and helping them to stop, the common factor I have found amongst those that find it easiest to stop is their attitude.

The ones who are most often going to be successful are approaching this with a positive frame of mind and a certainty; they have decided that they are going to stop, and that is that.

Ironically, they don’t care about how hard it might be, the decision is made, and this actually makes it very easy for them on the whole. The more certain they are, the less fearful and the more positive their attitude, the easier and more permanent the change becomes.

There are a number of studies that back this up too, and the trend is apparent regardless of which method people use to stop (i.e. hypnosis, patches, gum, champix etc.) or even if they just stop smoking without assistance of any kind.

I am still observing this phenomena and the disparity between different clients, but I can only conclude that the reason it seems people from Bury St. Edmunds stop smoking more easily is that they approach it with the right attitude.

How to make use of this learning to emulate their success

It turns out that it’s actually unbelievably simple to stop smoking if you have the right attitude, and I apply this logic to dealing with my clients. Whilst I can’t make them think in this way, I have implemented a number of processes into my approach so that my clients have the best chance of stopping easily.

First, I won’t work with people who aren’t ready yet, but I also don’t abandon them. I have a simple process for determining if people are ready and helping them get there if they are not.

People who call me have 4 questions to answer, and these questions will give us both the insight to know whether they are ready, and if not what they need to address to get themselves ready. (I don’t charge for this, and a few people have quit just from this conversation and a change in their approach!)

The next thing is that I insist people are not using ‘attempt’ language. The language we use affects our thoughts and behaviours, so if someone calls and is saying things like “I’ll try” or “I hope I can do it” I won’t book the session with them. Once the session is booked language like that is banned entirely and will be corrected if I hear it.

There are a number of other strategies I employ to get people to the point where they need to be, so by the time we get to the hypnosis they’ve virtually quit already. Ideally I want to create an environment where the hypnosis just tips them over the edge and seals the deal.

In conclusion

We can glean a few interesting and easily applied insights from all this.

• A positive attitude can help you massively, whether you want to stop smoking with hypnosis or without.
• The more positive your attitude the easier you will find it and the greater your chance of success
• Statistics are on your side if you’re coming to me from Bury St. Edmunds and want to find stopping easy.

The promotional bit

It would be remiss of me if I didn’t make it absolutely clear that you can call me on 07967473691 for a free no obligation chat about how I can help you stop smoking. If you’re interested in booking, we can go through the four questions to see if you’re ready.

Thanks for reading my article.