Atlanta's Stop Smoking Solution

Client Feedback: Feels Great to Stop Smoking!

2011-07-29T00:54:00.002-04:00

This video was recorded at the beginning of DeAnna's follow-up appointment, which took place about three weeks after her initial session to stop smoking. She does a good job of describing what it's like after that initial session, during those crucial first several days and weeks as a non-smoker.

Enjoy.

The Bert Show's Jenn Hobby: Progress Report

2010-02-03T11:57:00.003-05:00

Jenn Hobby has been tweeting about her success since our session two weeks ago to help her stop smoking. Here it is in her words:

The day after: "I can confidently say that I'm not going to smoke again... ever."

One week later: "7 Days and going strong! You changed my head and my habits and MY LIFE! Thanks. I owe ya."

Two weeks later: "21 days to break a habit right? More than halfway there then. 14 Days smoke free. and yes, I do feel more free. Thanks."

The Bert Show's Jenn Hobby Discusses Being Hypnotized by Sean Wheeler to Stop Smoking

2010-01-21T16:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I hypnotized Jenn Hobby - of Q100's "The Bert Show" - to stop smoking. This morning, she shared her experience on the air. This is a pretty interesting segment... for the first time, bits & pieces from the actual hypnosis portion of the session are broadcast live over the air. I had to warn them not to play it too long... lest some people driving begin veering off the road!

Listen to what Jenn has to say, and be sure to listen to part 2 below for the conclusion... in which she talks about how confident she is about being done with the habit for good.

Today's appearance on Q100's "The Bert Show"

2010-01-11T23:02:00.002-05:00

Today I made my second appearance on "The Bert Show"... the popular morning show on Q100 in Atlanta. This time I got to talk about stop smoking hypnosis again (and how I'll soon be working with co-host Jenn Hobby), New Year's Resolutions, and then also answered some questions from listeners... which begins in part 2 below.

World Hypnotism Day - Success Story

2010-01-07T10:01:00.001-05:00

Here's a clip from my hypnosis event on Sunday in which a guy who attended my event last year talks about how he quit smoking and stayed quit for a year. This is how it works...

VIDEO: Info About Free Event on World Hypnotism Day

2009-12-18T23:44:00.001-05:00

FREE Hypnosis Event on Jan 3rd - Start the New Year Off Right!

2009-12-15T16:42:00.002-05:00

Jan 4th is the 6th Annual World Hypnotism Day, and this year I'm celebrating by hosting a FREE event in the Atlanta area... on January 3rd. Yeah, I know, I know... but I figured more people would be able to make it on a Sunday than a Monday, and what better way to start off 2010 than with a healthy dose of relaxation and positive focus.

So, whatever your desire - whether to stop smoking, lose some weight, make more money, reduce stress or just get happier - RSVP at the link below and I'll see you there!

What: FREE Hypnosis Seminar

Where: Hyatt Regency on Windy Hill Rd

When: Jan. 3rd, 2010

Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm

RSVP required for attendance! Register here: http://www.meetup.com/purehypnosis/calendar/12091514/?success=rsvpYesOrgCreateGroup

Sean Wheeler on Q-100's The Bert Show

2009-11-20T23:38:00.002-05:00

Check out this clip from my appearance on The Bert Show... one of the most popular morning radio shows in Atlanta - on Q-100 (99.7FM). Thursday, November 19th was the 34th Annual Great American Smokeout... and they wanted me to hypnotize morning show personality Jenn Hobby to stop smoking. Good info & laughs included...

Interview with Dr. Wesley Anderson of Trance-Formations - Part 1: Misconceptions

2009-07-19T21:51:00.001-04:00

I've just done a series of podcasts with my good friend and fellow hypnotherapist - Dr. Wesley Anderson of Trance-Formations. In this first installment, we discuss some of the common misconceptions about hypnosis, and share some of our own experiences.

There will be at least three more installments from this interview, so be sure to check back here soon for updates.

Client Feedback: First Week After Hypnosis

2009-05-01T13:20:00.000-04:00

Just got this email from a client I saw this week. As always, I received her permission before posting it here. This gives a good example of what you can expect during the first few days:

"I just wanted to give you an update, its been 96 hours and NO SMOKING!!!!!! I am so happy, I'm not going to say that I have not thought about smoking, but that's just it. When the thought comes into my mind, it goes out just as fast. I have had NO withdraws or thoughts of giving in. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.... YOU are Awesome!"
-Amy Whisnant

Stay Away from Chantix

2009-04-11T11:27:00.004-04:00

Just a quick little thought here about Chantix...

I had another client yesterday who wants to stop smoking, and as we were discussing other methods that are available out there, she mentioned that a relative of hers has been taking Chantix for about three months. She talked about how he has become so short-tempered... you can't even say "hello" to him without him becoming extremely defensive or agitated... and that he has just become a horrible presence to be around.

I informed her of all the data that's come out over the past couple years - about how the FAA has banned pilots from using Chantix due to cases where users have blacked out while driving automobiles and caused accidents... about the reported cases of violent behavior and suicide... and even about how trusted doctors and medical professionals compromise their integrity by accepting thousands of dollars from Pfizer (the Big Pharma giant that produces Chantix) to promote its drugs - in spite of the known dangers.

But best of all, after the session, I asked her the same question I ask all my stop smoking clients before they leave: "Would you like a cigarette?"

The expression on her face and her tone of voice in saying "No" was about the same as if I'd asked her if she'd like to jump off a skyscraper... just complete bewilderment that I'd even ask!

She's going to do extremely well, and in a couple weeks when she comes back in for her follow-up session, I'll do an interview with her (like those in yesterday's blog post) and share her own words with you.

You don't have to use dangerous drugs like Chantix to quit using cigarettes. It's just not necessary!

VIDEO: My Clients - In Their Own Words

2009-04-10T23:38:00.001-04:00

B98.5 Interview - Listen Now

2009-04-05T21:31:00.001-04:00

Here is the interview I did with Suzi Marsh, host of "Change Your Mind, Change Your Life" on B98.5 in Atlanta. It's divided into 5 parts, due to YouTube's limit of 10 minutes per video.

It covers a wide array of topics, from smoking cessation, weight loss, fears & phobias... to comedy stage hypnosis, stories about clients I've worked with, my background and training, and a whole lot more.

Suzi had me on air for the entire hour, so I got to gab quite a bit.

Listen and enjoy-

Sean

B98.5 Interview Airs Sunday 4/5 at 6:50am

2009-04-04T16:57:00.000-04:00

Be sure to tune in to B98.5 FM in Atlanta tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 6:50am to hear me discuss all things hypnosis (including smoking cessation) with host Suzi Marsh (picture, below). The program is called "Change Your Mind, Change Your Life," and I'll be appearing on air for a full hour.

Here's the link where you can listen live online: http://b985.com/

In case you miss it, I'll be recording the entire interview and posting it here on this blog via YouTube shortly after it airs.

Hope you can catch it. It came out great, and includes some highlights of my work with clients over the past six years.

New Video: Introduction to Pure Hypnosis

2009-04-04T16:44:00.001-04:00

Georgia Smokers to Shell Out an Extra 62 Cents Per Pack Starting Today

2009-04-01T15:27:00.000-04:00

It's no April Fool's joke.

Starting today, Georgia smokers will have to pay an extra 62 cents per pack of cigarettes. That works out to an extra $6.20 per carton, or more than $200/year for the average smoker.

This is thanks to a new federal tax, which you can learn more about here: http://is.gd/q7EQ

So... it may be just the right time to think about quitting after all, huh?

B98.5 Radio Interview To Air Sunday, April 5th

2009-03-30T21:58:00.003-04:00

I had a great time this morning recording an interview with Suzi Marsh (http://suzi-marsh.com/) for B98.5 FM. It runs a full hour, and will air in Atlanta this coming Sunday, April 5th at 7:00am.

This is great for you Early Birds, but for everyone else, worry not... I'll be recording the show and making it available online shortly thereafter.

Topics discussed include comedy hypnosis shows, fears & phobias, regression therapy, smoking cessation, weight gain, food cravings and much more.

You can listen online here: http://b985.com/

Success Story: Stop Smoking Seminar on Jan 4th, 2009

2009-03-27T17:18:00.000-04:00

Just received more feedback from someone who attended my free Stop Smoking seminar on World Hypnotism Day. It's been almost 3 months now... and it appears that Andrew is doing quite well. Smoke-free and not looking back...

Here's his email (printed with permission):

Hey Sean,

Just a quick update from me. I am still smoke free from our first and only session on World Hypnotism Day on January 4, 2009 (about 12 weeks later!). Seriously, you have changed my life more than I can explain and I don’t even think about cigarettes in my life.

I have friends who are now using my story as inspiration and I have been telling them about how fantastic it feels and how simple it can be. Also, my friend [name withheld] has been working with you and I know she is enjoying her time and feels like your sessions are very beneficial. I have a few other folks who I have referred to you for smoking so I hope they can find the success that I have found.

Thank you again.

Andrew Rader

Client: "I completely forgot about smoking"

2009-03-23T10:22:00.003-04:00

Last week a client of mine (and 35-year, every day smoker) was kind enough to do a brief interview with me about her experience since using my Stop Smoking Hypnosis program a little more than four months ago. I have to admit, her feedback was impressive... even to me!

I'll have a full audio interview with her posted this week, but in the meantime, here are a few of her very own words in print:

"I was a die-hard smoker. I never really thought I could quit.

I was hoping and praying that this would work. I just didn't know how easy and effortless it was going to be... just completely effortless.

I kept thinking 'I'm forgetting something... I don't know what I'm forgetting, but I'm forgetting something.'

I didn't even think about smoking. It didn't even enter my mind. Within a week or so, I truly forgot about smoking. It was just amazing. It was a miracle.

It's been four months and I know I'm never going to smoke again. I don't even think about smoking... it's the last thing on my mind. It's just not a part of my life anymore."

Jan Madajewski
Flowery Branch, GA

Success Story from WHD Stop Smoking Seminar

2009-03-08T14:23:00.001-04:00

Here is some feedback from someone who attended my Stop Smoking Hypnosis Seminar on World Hypnotism Day - January 4th, 2009.

"Hi Sean! I wanted to give you a update on my experiences since your seminar. First and foremost I am smoke-FREE! I have been since the group seminar, and I've gone through some really challenging times in the last two months. I had tried every method to quit before, and with your help I have kicked this thing once and for all!

Thanks for all you do, it has really worked for me!"

Kristin Zimmermann
Atlanta, GA

The Cold Hard Truth: Smoking is a Choice

2009-02-14T11:50:00.008-05:00

I saw this story today from the Associated Press:

Later in the article, it states the following:

In closing arguments, Hess attorneys Gary Paige and Alex Alvarez said Stuart Hess tried for 40 years to quit his heavy smoking, even trying hypnosis. But they said the powerful nicotine forced Hess to continue smoking even as he underwent chemotherapy before he died in 1997 at age 55.

"People smoke because they're addicted, not because they choose to," Paige said. "Nobody wants to be addicted to cigarettes. It's as addictive as cocaine and heroin."

This is beyond ridiculous.

Before I begin to explain why it's ridiculous, please understand that to disagree with the conclusions of a jury and the attorneys quoted above is not to be void of compassion for the deceased. On the contrary, I feel that subscribing to the above beliefs (and that's what they are - beliefs) would be an insult to the millions of smokers and non-smokers in the world who have struggled with the habit or are seeking to quit. Why? Because if you believe the jurors and attorneys, smokers don't have a choice - they are "forced" to smoke... as in "the powerful nicotine forced Hess to continue smoking" until his death.

Now, I wasn't there at the trial, so I don't know what evidence was presented that allowed jurors to conclude that Mr. Hess never willingly purchased, lit or smoked cigarettes of his own free will, and that, in fact, the nicotine was fully responsible for his habit.

However, having worked with many, many smokers in my hypnotherapy practice, I can say with the utmost confidence and sincerity that people smoke because they choose to.

If you don't believe me, use your imagination for a moment. Let's play "what if" and see what we come up with...

What if Mr. Hess had been denied access to cigarettes completely? That's right... he would have suffered for a while, before the poison was completely removed from his system and the habit was broken. Then, he would have felt better.

How can I be so sure of this? Well, what else would have happened?

If smoking were as addictive as cocaine or heroin (and there is evidence that cocaine is not as addictive as it is commonly believed to be), why do 99% of the smokers I meet admit that they often sleep 6-8 hours at night without so much as a single "craving?" Why are they able to get on an airplane and fly overseas without smoking for 10-15 hours, without going into convulsions? Heroin addicts can't do this. Smokers can.

"People smoke because they're addicted, not because they choose to," Paige said.

Let's re-work that statement and make it true:

People smoke because they choose to, not because they're addicted.

Of course, if that were the case, it is highly unlikely that Mr. Paige would receive as big of a payday.

This isn't a question of right or wrong on the part of Big Tobacco (note that this Stop Smoking Hypnotherapist is actually siding with Philip Morris on this one). Everyone knows they're deceptive and irresponsible. It's a question of personal power and responsibility.

The moment we accept that "the powerful nicotine forced Hess to continue smoking" is the moment that we surrender all belief in free will and personal responsibility. The next logical conclusion is that we are powerless to change our situation in life, and that forces outside of our control must change things for us.

That is not the world we live in, and it's certainly not the world that I (or anyone) would like to live in.

Chantix Suicide: "Something Demanded I Do It"

2009-02-12T22:19:00.002-05:00

Three Rivers, MI: When Melinda F. started reading other people's stories about Chantix side effects, she started to cry. That was because she had not realized that her use of Chantix may have caused her suicide attempt in November, 2007. Melinda says that she had never
experienced anything like the depression she went through while taking Chantix.

"I started [Chantix] in mid-August of 2007 and I quit smoking in September or October," Melinda says. "It was probably about 30 days in and I started to get this thought in my head. It was the exact same thought every night, almost as if something was ordering me to go into the kitchen, get a knife and cut my wrists. Every night it was the same thing: it told me what I had to do and how to do it.

"I went to a psychiatrist and was put on Wellbutrin. A week later I cut my wrists and I never related the incident back to the Chantix. Then, I saw a commercial about Chantix and suicidal thoughts. I got goosebumps; I was almost in tears reading other people's stories.

"I was never told about the side effects; if I knew, I wouldn't have taken the Chantix. It was like I wouldn't be happy until I cut my wrists, it was like something was demanding me to do it. But a couple of days after stopping the medication, I never had that thought again. Now, I'm scared of taking any medications because the side effects scare me to death. I don't like taking anything.

Click here for the full story.

FREE Stop Smoking Event on Feb 28th

2009-02-08T16:04:00.004-05:00

That's right... I'm hosting a follow-up event to the free stop smoking hypnosis seminar on January 4th. This time it's a smaller gathering - limited to 10 people - that will take place at my home office in Marietta.

Here are the details:

What: FREE Stop Smoking Hypnosis Event
Where: Pure Hypnosis, LLC
When: Feb 28th, 2009
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Register: Stop Smoking Solution Meetup Group

Hypnosis CD's: The Value of Reinforcement

2009-02-04T09:35:00.000-05:00

This clip is from a my stop smoking hypnosis seminar on World Hypnotism Day. Here, I talk about why it's important to practice self-hypnosis (via the use of cd's) on a daily basis in order to enjoy the highest degree of success.

Stage Hypnosis Secrets Revealed... or, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Hypnosis"

2009-01-22T15:06:00.003-05:00

It's time to put to rest all those worries about losing control while hypnotized. Check out the podcast below where I talk in detail about how stage hypnosis works and why you don't have to worry about clucking like a chicken if you're there to stop smoking.

Barack Obama Doesn't Want to Quit Smoking

2009-01-18T20:08:00.007-05:00

Look, as a therapist who helps people to quit smoking for a living, I am a compassionate guy. The headline above isn't intended to be a knock on the new President, it's a statement of fact based on my experience.

The reason I say he doesn't want to quit is this: here is a man who has demonstrated a degree of determination that is virtually unparalleled. To become President of the United States, you really have to want it... and that's an understatement.

When it comes to quitting smoking, or changing any habit or behavior, determination is the number one prerequisite for success. When I think of a man like Barack Obama, who has made so many sacrifices in order to achieve what he's achieved, I believe that when it comes down to it, he can do anything he truly wants to do.

About three years ago, my best friend quit smoking after 15+ years - cold turkey. He did it because he refused to smoke around his newborn son. He made a decision to quit, and he instinctively knew that nothing could ever make him smoke again against his will. He admits that at times he has missed smoking, and has really desired a cigarette, but he would never give in to the desire because he knows the consequences.

So when you read all the articles in the news about how Obama is going to "try" to quit... or he's "struggling" with his "addiction," keep in mind that no one is forcing him to smoke, that thousands of people quit every year - for their children, their families, themselves - and that any honest smoker must admit the problem isn't that they can't quit... it's that they haven't yet harnessed the right motivation.

If you can't see clearly the benefits of quitting... or the consequences of continuing to smoke... then you won't really want to quit.

Therefore, if Barack Obama truly wants to quit, then...

Yes, he can.

Hypnosis FAQ: "Will I Lose Awareness While Hypnotized?"

2009-01-15T20:20:00.003-05:00

This video is taken from my stop smoking hypnosis seminar on World Hypnotism Day - January 4th, 2009. Here, I talk briefly about the state of hypnosis and what it's like... and how you remain aware of what is happening throughout the process.

Check out the New Website!

2009-01-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

For the first time in nearly six years, the Pure Hypnosis Website has received a complete makeover. The new features include a newsletter, YouTube videos and social networking links (Facebook, Twitter).

Check it out by clicking the image below!

Promoting Chantix is a High-Paying Gig

2009-01-11T23:16:00.017-05:00

This is from today's article at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

It really should set off warning sirens when you see a pharmaceutical company like Pfizer paying $1000/day to psychiatrists to talk about Chantix. If the drug is so wonderful and safe, shouldn't an honest psychiatrist be willing to speak about it for free? Of course, his time is valuable... but if he genuinely cares about people and believes in this drug, why would it cost Pfizer so much to get him to speak?

As a comparison, I gave a talk about the benefits of using hypnosis for smoking cessation last Sunday, and guess how much I was paid? Well, since it was a completely free event, I was paid nothing. Of course, I'm not completely innocent... I did make a bit of money selling hypnosis CD's afterwards. However, I also provided hypnosis services during the presentation, and I know for a fact that some people in attendance haven't had a puff all week.

So here's the story... just another example of a big drug company paying a reputable psychiatrist to push its latest wonder drug. It's really only notable because of the fact that since he gave the speeches, Chantix has emerged as the most dangerous new pharmaceutical drug on the market.

Just see this direct quote from the article:

"Chantix has been associated with depression, suicidal thoughts, blackouts and serious injuries."

Eric Heiligenstein, the University of Wisconsin-Madison psychiatrist who received large sums of cash to speak about the benefits of this dangerous drug, says he "doesn't have second thoughts" because... get this... another stop smoking drug also has serious risks.

Uh, Your Honor? I object.

Mr. Heiligenstein seems to be saying that it's okay to promote a drug that causes people to kill themselves because other drugs on the market also cause harm. I suppose that means it's always okay to promote any drug, even if it causes people to immediately jump off of tall buildings, simply due to the fact that other dangerous drugs have also been approved by the FDA.

Remember, these are the people who are telling you that pharmaceutical drugs are safe. Keep that in mind when making a choice regarding your mental and physical well-being.

Keep in mind that no hypnotist or hypnotherapist is getting paid $1000/day to speak out about the benefits of hypnosis. Yes, we might make a decent living by helping people to stop smoking and lose weight, but there is no multi-billion-dollar establishment paying us to push our wares.

Click here for the full article from the Journal-Sentinel.

The Curious Case of How Brad Pitt Quit

2009-01-07T20:06:00.005-05:00

No, he didn't use hypnosis. Surprised I'm mentioning it?

This caught my attention because the video clip in my previous blog post talks about this exact same thing: MOTIVATION. My best friend quit for the very same reason. Brad Pitt quit smoking because he had a compelling reason and he made a decision.

That's it. It can be that simple for you, too. You just need to have a reason.

Check out the story below:

KIDS HELP PITT QUIT SMOKING

BRAD PITT has thanked his kids for helping him achieve a long overdue New Year's resolution to stop smoking.

The movie hunk has been nicotine free for months and he credits his growing family for helping him ditch his bad habit.

He tells W magazine, "I quit smoking. That (kids) was the only thing that got me to quit. That was it. Done."

Click here for the story at the original link.

Ex-Smoker: How I Quit with Hypnosis

2009-01-06T01:07:00.003-05:00

Here's an interview I did with a client of mine who successfully quit smoking with the help of my Quit Smoking hypnosis CD. Listen in as he details how he went cold turkey during the first 24 hours, only to find himself so agitated that he thought about doing some pretty nasty things. Then he started using the CD, and has been smoke-free... and much calmer... ever since.

How to Think Like a Non-Smoker

2009-01-05T20:36:00.006-05:00

Here's the first little snippet from my World Hypnotism Day Stop Smoking Seminar. I'll be posting many more of these in the days & weeks to come, so check back soon for updates.

In this one, I talk about a friend who quit smoking cold turkey... and get a few chuckles when sharing an amusing example of smoker's logic.

Enjoy...

WHD Stop Smoking Event a Big Success

2009-01-05T11:14:00.002-05:00

Just a quick mention of the free Stop Smoking event that took place on World Hypnotism Day - Sunday, January 4th. We had a great turnout and a lot of very happy ex-smokers left feeling much better about the future.

I'll have a full report very soon - including some youtube videos from the event that you'll be able to watch right here on this blog.

Have a great week and a healthy start in 2009-

Sean

FREE Stop Smoking Event - How To Sign Up!

2009-01-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

There are THREE WAYS to Sign Up for this Event:

Phone: (678) 488-7362 (leave name, phone number & mention the FREE event)
Email: purehypnosis@mac.com
Meetup.com (click this link for the sign-up page)

Here are the full details:

Who: 88 Future Non-Smokers
What: Stop Smoking Group Hypnosis Seminar
Where: Doubletree Hotel on Windy Hill Rd (Cabernet Room)
When: January 4th, 2009 @ 4:00pm
Why: World Hypnotism Day
Cost: FREE
Parking: FREE

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... so register NOW to secure your spot!

Any questions? Email purehypnosis@mac.com and I'll respond personally within 24 hours.

See you there!

-Sean Wheeler

Happy New Year! FREE Event Just 3 Days Away!

2009-01-01T16:47:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year and welcome to 2009! Time to start looking forward to a full year of breathing clean, fresh, healthy air and saving about $2000 that used to be spent on cigarettes.

I'm spending the New Year up in the Windy City - Chicago, and when we stopped by a sandwich shop yesterday I noticed the cost of cigarettes was $8.49/pack. Wow! Based on a very modest cost of $5.00/pack, if you're an average smoker, you'll save between $1500-$2000 in 2009 if you successfully quit the habit.

Only three days remain until World Hypnotism Day - and my FREE stop smoking hypnosis event at the Doubletree Hotel on Windy Hill Road in Atlanta.

If you haven't signed up yet, do it now... and be sure to check out the tips for success before you head out to the event.

Follow these instructions, and you will put yourself in the driver's seat... giving you the absolute best chance you've ever had in your life to become a non-smoker for good.

No withdrawal. No cravings. No weight gain. No problem.

See you there!

Change I Can Believe In? Stop Smoking, Mr. President-Elect!

2008-12-30T21:01:00.001-05:00

Atlanta’s Stop Smoking Expert, Sean Wheeler challenges President-Elect Barack Obama to Quit Smoking on World Hypnotism Day - January 4th, 2009. Wheeler will hypnotize 88 smokers to quit the habit for good at a free event in Marietta, GA.

Atlanta, GA -- Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist Sean Wheeler has challenged President-Elect Barack Obama to stop smoking in conjunction with the 5th Annual World Hypnotism Day on January 4th, 2009. Obama recently admitted that he still struggles with the habit to Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press.

Each year, 390,000 Americans die from the effects of smoking, according to the American Red Cross.

“I challenge our next President to set an example for the American people,” said Wheeler, a certified member of the National Guild of Hypnotists. “I think he should take a stand, be a true leader and say to every smoker in America that ‘Yes, we can’ become smoke-free.”

January 4th is the day when hypnosis professionals in more than 20 countries around the world promote the benefits of hypnotism. At this year's seminar in Atlanta, the biggest free stop smoking event in Georgia’s history, anyone - even Mr. Obama - can learn to become smoke-free.

“Many thousands of people have used hypnosis to quit, including some well-known celebrities like Ellen Degeneres and Matt Damon,” Wheeler explained, “it only makes sense that Mr. Obama would use a proven method that would allow him to serve as a role model for the entire country.”

Wheeler is well aware of the implications of such a powerful figure using something as commonly misunderstood as hypnosis.

“Some people might worry I’d try to make him a Republican,” Wheeler laughed, “but hypnosis doesn’t work like that. If it did, I’d try to persuade him to change his mind about the Bailout Bill.”

The free event will take place in the Cabernet Room of the Doubletree Hotel on Windy Hill Rd from 4:00pm to 6:00pm on Sunday, January 4th, 2009. Information on how to register for the event is available at www.purehypnosis.com/worldhypnotismday.

---

Sean Wheeler is available for media interviews at 678-488-7362. Members of the press can find more information online at http://www.purehypnosis.com.

About Sean Wheeler

Sean Wheeler is a Board Certified Hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists and the founder of Pure Hypnosis, LLC. He is the author of The Stop Smoking Solution - Atlanta’s premiere Smoking Cessation blog, and his articles have been published all over the web. Additionally, Sean Wheeler has appeared on CNN, CNN Headline News and TBS. He has performed as master of ceremonies, entertainer and speaker at venues including Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, as well as for academic and scientific organizations throughout Georgia and the Southeast.

Study: People continue smoking in bad economy

2008-12-30T20:09:00.004-05:00

There's a brief little article from the Associated Press about smoking today.

Looks like some smokers out there are subscribing to the belief that smoking actually relieves stress... when in actuality, at best - smoking temporarily distracts you from the stress you're experiencing. Once the cigarette is put out, the problems (economic and otherwise) remain and you're right where you were before... only less healthy and wealthy.

The truth is that those of you who quit smoking will not only have more cash in your pockets, you'll also be less stressed out. You see, once you no longer have to worry about cigarettes and the effect smoking has on your health, you achieve peace of mind.

Also, if you choose to use hypnosis to quit, you'll learn how to relax yourself and eliminate stress in an easy and practical way. You just won't allow things to bother you as much.

Oh, and you'll save about $2,000 every single year you remain a non-smoker.

Here's the article from the AP:

---------------------

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Financial stress doesn't push people away from smoking. A study shows people are more likely to smoke than quit during an economic downturn.

A survey from the American Legacy Foundation found that 77 percent of current smokers are stressed by the national economy. This stress is causing some people to delay their attempt to quit smoking, and some are smoking more cigarettes than before.

Washington Secretary of Health Mary Selecky says the expense of smoking is a good reason to quit during bad economic times. The state's free tobacco quit line offers free coaching and a supply of nicotine patches or gum.

Since the average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $5.38, Selecky says pack-a-day smokers could save nearly $2,000 by quitting.

12 Tips to Successfully Quit Smoking for New Years

2008-12-30T20:03:00.004-05:00

Nice little article from About.com here for you. Click this link to read the 12 tips for yourself. These are all good things to do.

That said, there is a big difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it... which is why hypnosis is so helpful. With a good hypnosis program for smoking cessation, these 12 tips are incorporated into the work done during the session, which allows you to really absorb the ideas at a deeper level and implement them into your life.

We change your awareness and focus, so that you're automatically doing these things (and others) without having to consciously remind yourself all the time.

So take a look at the article and take the advice to heart. For those of you planning to attend my free event on Sunday, January 4th... know that these things will all be integrated into the work we do that day, and will remain with you long after you've left.

How To Prepare to Quit Smoking

2008-12-29T15:31:00.007-05:00

Okay, let's say you've picked out a date and decided you're going to quit. Maybe it's my FREE event on January 4th in honor of World Hypnotism Day, maybe you're scheduling a 1-on-1 session with a hypnotherapist, or maybe you're going to try it cold turkey.

Whatever method you choose, there are some important things you should do prior to your target date that'll give you the best chance for long-term success.

The following are essential:

Get rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters or other items related to smoking
Tell people close to you that you are quitting
Make a decision to give it 100% of your effort

If you are going to be a non-smoker, you have no reason to keep an "emergency pack" of cigarettes hidden away someplace. It's amazing how many people do this, "just in case" they "really need" a cigarette. The truth is that, whatever situation arises, you can get through it without smoking a cigarette.

Additionally, by removing these items from your life, it makes it easier to forget about the habit. The more reminders you have of your former habit, the more you will think about it. The more you think about it, the more likely it is that you'll smoke again.

By telling close family members, co-worker and friends, they'll be less likely to remind you about it or (gasp!) offer you a cigarette. Additionally, you'll want their support and encouragement. If they genuinely care about you, this will come naturally.

Making a decision to be a non-smoker and giving it 100% is absolutely essential to being successful. This means you're not going to "try" to quit smoking, you're going to DO it. By simply realizing that no matter what happens, you're in control of your body and your actions, you become incredibly empowered.

The result is this: when something stressful happens in your life, rather than using it as an excuse to lean on your old crutch, you deal with it - just like every other non-smoker out there. Now matter how upset or anxious you become, trust me, you'll live to tell about it.

Do these three things, and you wil dramatically increase the likelihood of long-term success.

L.A. Times: Obama and Smoking - Now's Not the Time to Quit?

2008-12-28T20:02:00.002-05:00

An amusing editorial from the Los Angeles Times advises Barack Obama NOT to quit smoking now... that he should wait until after he's served as President before giving it up.

Why?

Because the author - Amy Goldman Koss - quit smoking 10 years ago and suffered through the cravings, the mind-battles, the associations and all the other difficulties people encounter when quitting without the right guidance.

I encourage you to read the article, then return to this page and view the youtube videos below. They are interviews I conducted with two ex-smokers who used hypnosis to quit... without experiencing withdrawal, cravings, irritability or weight gain.

Barack Obama is perfectly capable, not only of quitting for good, but also of keeping his composure, sanity and his recently publicized svelte physique.

So read the article for a perspective from someone who did it the wrong way, and then watch the videos below for a perspective from some people who did it the right way - with hypnosis.

FREE Stop Smoking Event is One Week Away!

2008-12-28T11:30:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder that the big Stop Smoking hypnosis event - and the 5th Annual World Hypnotism Day - is only a week away.

Now's the time to start counting down... planning things out so you're ready to become a non-smoker. This means that by the time next Sunday arrives, you'll have eliminated all cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters and other smoking items from your home, vehicle and workspace. This will make it easier to forget about the habit after you leave the event.

Plan to feel really good about yourself. Plan to start feeling more relaxed and stress-free. Plan to begin breathing easier. Plan to have more energy. Plan to take 20 minutes a day to listen to a hypnosis CD (which you can pick up at the event on Sunday) for the first 21 days.

But most of all, plan to quit smoking in the most enjoyable way possible... to be focused on what you want rather than what you're giving up... to forget to remember to smoke... and enjoy the benefits of being free from the habit forever.

Pass this on to your friends and let's get a packed house for this big event.

VA Testing Chantix on Vets Without Warning of Dangers

2008-12-27T21:39:00.008-05:00

Here's an article from the Washington Times which details the problems with testing drugs on a very vulnerable portion of the population - veterans of the armed forces returning from duty in Iraq.

The pertinent section to you as the reader involves Chantix, the drug that has been linked to depression and suicide in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere.

Click here for the full article at the Washington Times.

Here's the portion that pertains to Chantix:

--------------

[President-Elect Barack] Obama, [Rep. Bob] Filner and other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for an investigation into a smoking cessation study, which Mr. Peake immediately initiated.

The experiment tracked 240 veterans taking the drug Chantix to examine which forms of counseling were more beneficiary - smoking clinics or through a separate counselor. James Elliott, an Army infantryman who was wounded in Iraq, says the drug caused him to experience a mental breakdown and a showdown with police who used a Taser to subdue him in February.

Mr. Elliott said the VA didn't warn him about new FDA concerns that Chantix was linked to psychotic behavior and nearly 40 suicides until nearly a month after his disturbing incident occurred earlier this year.

The internal investigation confirmed that Mr. Elliott was not alone. It took medical professionals involved in the study anywhere from 16 to 134 days to notify participants taking Chantix about the new warnings.

------------

As with any mention of Chantix, I will take this opportunity to remind the reader of my personal stance on psychotropic drugs, which is, quite simply, "don't take them." The benefits very rarely outweigh the risks, and there are nearly always side-effects.

As for the ability of a drug like Chantix to assist you with smoking cessation, my advice is more specific: "you don't need it." You can quit smoking on your own, without drugs, patches, gums, lasers, needles or even hypnosis.

You can do it.

When I use hypnosis with my clients, I give to them what some ex-smokers have given to themselves -- a clear awareness of their motivation, along with a focus on the benefits of being a non-smoker. This not only works, it also produces a feeling of accomplishment and self-sufficiency - independence, if you will... that can only be achieved through learning to use the power of your mind.

Those who are successful quitting through other methods do receive the benefits of being smoke-free, which is fantastic. What they don't receive are the benefits of learning just how powerful they truly are when their mind is properly focused.

It's not just getting the results you desire that's important - it's also the sense of pride you feel that fuels your ability to accomplish other things in life that are perhaps even more meaningful.

FAQ - Why I Became a Hypnotherapist

2008-12-23T13:26:00.001-05:00

FAQ - "Can Everyone Be Hypnotized?"

2008-12-23T12:10:00.000-05:00

Stop Smoking Hypnosis: How it Works

2008-12-21T00:13:00.002-05:00

Jan 4th Stop Smoking Event Now has a Location!

2008-12-20T10:31:00.000-05:00

Alright, we've finally got all the details in place...

My FREE Stop Smoking Seminar in honor of World Hypnotism Day on January 4th will officially take place at (drum roll, please) the Doubletree Hotel on Windy Hill in Marietta!

[crowd cheers]

The above link will take you to contact information at Meetup.com. Here's the official Meetup page where you can register. Do so quickly, as space is limited.

Here are the full details:

Who: 88 Future Non-Smokers
What: Stop Smoking Group Hypnosis Seminar
Where: Doubletree Hotel on Windy Hill (Cabernet Room)
When: January 4th, 2009 @ 4:00pm
Why: World Hypnotism Day
Cost: FREE
Parking: FREE

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... so register NOW to secure your spot!

More updates will follow as we draw closer to the event.

World Hypnotism Day Event... Details Coming SOON

2008-12-10T23:12:00.007-05:00

Just a quick update for you here.

The big World Hypnotism Day (WHD) event is coming more into focus by the day. The venue should be decided very, very soon.

It will definitely be somewhere in the southern tip of Marietta, likely Windy Hill Rd... not too far from my home office.

As of this moment, here's what we DO know about this FREE Stop Smoking Hypnosis Event:

Date: Sunday, January 4th
Time: 4:00pm
Location: TBD (Marietta/Smyrna area)
Cost: FREE

This event will include information about hypnosis and how it can benefit YOU... all presented in a very entertaining and non-boring fashion (hey, I'm a comedian at heart). The main event will be the finale - a group hypnosis session that will help the Lucky 88 guests to become non-smokers for life.

I will also be giving away more FREE goodies... including 1-on-1 sessions in my office, hypnosis CD's and more. Basically, if you're a smoker who wants to quit, you have absolutely NOTHING to lose, and EVERYTHING to gain.

So tell all your smoker friends to save the date. Better yet, sign yourselves up at the Meetup.com site we've set up: http://www.meetup.com/Metro-Atlanta-s-Stop-Smoking-Solution/calendar/9279995/.

For more info about World Hypnotism Day: http://www.worldhypnotismday.com/

Check back soon for more updates!

Chantix Spam Alert

2008-12-06T10:45:00.010-05:00

Before we kick this article off, I will get right to the point: Chantix is very dangerous and NOT a safe alternative for people who want to quit smoking. Here's why:

Top 10 Biggest Medical Stories of 2008 (#4: Chantix's Deadly Side Effects)
FDA Official Video: Warning of Chantix and Suicide
Chantix Label Updated To Warn Of Suicide Risk
Chantix an Antidepressant or a Source of Suicidal Thoughts?
Chantix Suicide a Real Possibility
Widow Sues Pfizer Over Chantix Suicide
Chantix: Miracle Drug Or Dangerous Problem?

Now, you are about to discover just how hard Big Pharma (or their minions) is willing to work to get you to take their drugs... in this case the anti-smoking medication Chantix. What follows here is an analysis and description of what can only be viewed as outright deception (as well as what we have come to know as "spamming").

Do a quick Google search for "Chris James" and Chantix, and you'll find the results quite interesting. This seemingly innocuous blogger appears to have made the same exact post about Chantix (occasionally altered slightly) hundreds and hundreds of times.

Here are some examples:

Chantix, is it really a magic pill? (this is a supposed "acne treatment" blog)
Is Chantix all it claims to be?
Chantix, is it really a magic pill? (this one has a prominent link for penis enlargement)
Is Chantix really a wonder drug?
Is Chantix all it claims to be? (this is a "weight loss" blog)
Is Chantix all it claims to be?
Chantix, is it really a magic pill?
Is Chantix all it claims to be?

These, and hundreds of others, are pretty much the exact same story.

Since smoking cessation is the focus of my practice, and I want to stay informed of the most current news developments in the industry, I have taken advantage of what are known as Google Alerts, which allow you to receive regular updates directly from Google via email on any search you choose (ex. "chantix").

As I monitored the alerts, I began to notice the exact same article - written by the mysterious "Chris James" - appearing over and over again, yet always on different sites. Upon closer inspection, I came to notice that not only were these articles nearly word-for-word identical, the websites/blogs that hosted them weren't actually "real"... meaning, if you click on other articles or links on any of the sites, you'll find generic entries filled with misspellings and grammatical errors.

One of these posts caught my attention because it's on a website named "conversationalhypnotherapy.com." One article I clicked begins as such:

"Directed conversation is done to induce hypnosis in people. It is called a conversationally hypnosis."

Huh??

Later in the article...

"He must submit some questions to let the patient more aware of the things. As an example, “If you are a sole human on the Earth, how it will be like?”

These sentences make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Even if the omitted words were replaced, the sentences would have no intellectual value. I could go on and list more examples, but I'll save you the time. It's clear that these articles were never meant to be read.

They list authors who do not exist... when links are clicked for their websites (example below: www.effective-hypnotherapy.com), you are directed to a page like this:

Clearly, this website does not exist.

Now, the sheer magnitude of this gargantuan effort on behalf of Chantix (or whoever) should stop you in your tracks. Here are the facts:

One very pro-Chantix article is being posted hundreds of times all over the internet.
The author is attempting to portray himself as an impartial blogger/consumer.
Entire websites are being created to make this one article appear legitimate.
These websites contain links to other sites that do not exist.
The authors of the articles appearing on these websites do not actually exist.
Chantix is being marketed by any means necessary.

Here is the point: Chantix is currently being taken by more than 8 million people worldwide. The profits are in the billions. They market Chantix to you via TV commercials with a cute little turtle.

Now, having realized that internet blogs and articles can reach millions more potential customers, they have resorted to the most hated of all marketing ploys - spamming. They deceptively post the same exact article on hundreds of fake blogs all over the internet in the hopes that someone will click on the article and view it as an honest opinion from an individual.

So, who is "they?" Well, all you have to do is ask "who benefits?" Who benefits from you taking Chantix? Well, Pfizer, of course, as well as others who might make a profit from being middle men.

Here is a company facing lawsuit after lawsuit for the damaging effects of its drugs, now promoting a drug that in 2008 has been linked to seizures, violent accidents, depression and numerous cases of suicide. Heck, these lawsuits are so numerous, a quick internet search will show dozens of law firms that actually specialize in lawsuits for users/victims of Chantix.

When deciding what method to use in order to stop smoking, you have to ask yourself - Who is pushing me to use this particular method? What kind of individual is this? Can this person or organization be trusted? Does this person actually exist?

I've always made it clear on this blog that hypnosis is not the answer for everyone, and it in fact is not a magic pill. However, there are no deadly or harmful side-effects to using hypnosis... none whatsoever. Furthermore, the average hypnotherapist doesn't have a fraction of the budget Pfizer has... or the moral ambiguity... that allows it to go to absurd lengths to get anyone and everyone to use its product.

So go do a little search for the mysterious Chris James and see for yourself.

Chantix "The Worst Drug"

2008-12-05T22:35:00.002-05:00

Here's another first-hand account of the dangerous psychotic side-effects of the anti-smoking pharmaceutical creation known as Chantix (and Champix in the U.K.).

Click the headline above or the link below for the full story.

Gardena, CA: For some patients, the two words go together all too well: Chantix suicide is not an abstract phenomenon for these people. In fact, it is a very real possibility. Mitchell W. says he was surprised by the Chantix side effects he suffered, especially since he had not experienced any side effects during an earlier round of the anti-smoking drug. While Mitchell did not even attempt to commit suicide, he certainly had thoughts about doing so. Luckily, he recognized what was happening and got help before it was too late. Sadly, some patients do not get help in time, and for their families Chantix and suicide are forever intertwined.

"I actually took Chantix in December 2006, for 3 weeks," Mitchell says. "I guess I didn't take it long enough to notice any problems, but after 3 weeks I was cut off by the government from having it paid for. So then, in 2008—I think I took it in about October—I took Chantix for 5 weeks. By the second week, Chantix made me so tired all day long that all I could do was sit in my recliner with my head back and my eyes closed. Every so often I would try to go to bed and sleep, but it wouldn't let me sleep.

"That went on for weeks and weeks until finally it messed up my sleep cycle so badly that I couldn't sleep at all at night. After 5 weeks of that, I was so depressed I was suicidal. I know all about that because I've been bipolar for 30 years plus, so I made a run into my psychiatrist's office. She took me off Chantix, but because of my HMO, I couldn't check into the psychiatric hospital and keep myself safe until my new meds kicked in."

Mitchell says that it took 3 months until he felt better. "It was 3 months of depression—severe depression. I had thoughts of suicide, of stepping in front of a big rig on the freeway or hanging myself from the bridge. Things like that. I've got 30 years with my illness, so I've learned the triggers and what they mean and how to ignore them."

Click here for the full story.

FREE Stop Smoking Hypnosis Event on January 4th

2008-12-04T11:28:00.004-05:00

Ladies, gentlemen, wannabe non-smokers... here's your chance: get your New Year's Resolutions started off with a BANG in 2009. I'll be offering a FREE event in honor of World Hypnotism Day on January 4th, which is a Sunday... perfect to get your week started on the right foot.

This event will include a group hypnosis session to help all attendees stop smoking on the spot. All who attend will also qualify for a complimentary followup session in my Marietta office. The total value of these services is anywhere from $150-$500 or more, so if you're serious about quitting and your budget is tight, this could be your Golden Ticket.

Check back with this blog for details on time and location, and register for this event here: http://www.meetup.com/Metro-Atlanta-s-Stop-Smoking-Solution/calendar/9279995/

Chantix Problems in Britain

2008-11-29T17:15:00.002-05:00

Found this article yesterday and thought I'd share the most interesting bits with you here. It actually details problems with Chantix all over the world, not only in the UK.

Click the headline above or the link at the bottom for the full article.

-------------------

The controversial smoking cessation drug known as Chantix in the U.S., was introduced by Pfizer as Champix nearly two years ago in Great Britain. The drug is known generically as varenicline in both countries and, in Great Britain, about 400,000 prescriptions have been written says BBC News’ online site. Internationally, says the BBC, about nine million prescriptions have been written.

The BBC explains that Chantix is a nicotine-mimicking drug that enables the body to reduce its urge for cigarettes while also reducing its withdrawal symptoms. However, in studies, the drug did not provide increased efficacy over other methods of smoking cessation. Despite this, notes the BBC, Pfizer earned over $883 million from the drug in its first year.

In Britain, according to the piece, over 3,000 people have “complained about adverse reactions to Champix,” with nearly 200 reporting suicidal reactions, 16 attempting suicide and 10 succeeding in committing suicide.

The BBC investigation led to similar findings in the U.S. with one man creating a night-long scene of fighting with his girlfriend and with a handgun, causing an armed, police stand-off. All this occurred after the man, an Iraq vet with post-traumatic stress, had taken Chantix for only a few days.

The BBC also discussed a father of three who killed himself with a shotgun to his mouth, another man who killed himself with a shot to the head, and a mother who hanged herself. All three were on the drug and none had prior psychiatric history.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said it linked 37 suicides to Chantix.

Meanwhile, MedPageToday.com, also reported that Chantix has been linked with over 1,000 adverse events that include 50 deaths, in the first quarter of this year alone.

Since its approval in 2006, Chantix has been associated with 3,325 reported serious injuries in this country that include 112 deaths, the institute said, according to MedPageToday.com. Because the FDA’s post-market surveillance system is voluntary, the report may be underestimating actual figures.

Click here for the full article.

Chantix and Suicide

2008-11-22T12:45:00.007-05:00

Here's an article with first-hand information about the dangers of Chantix and how it can affect you psychologically. This, along with the lawsuits currently being brought against the drug in both the US and the UK (marketed there are "Champix," perhaps because it's supposed to turn you into a "Champ"), paints a pretty scary picture of what could happen if you begin taking it.

This is a drug so dangerous that it has been banned by the FAA, as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, mainly because it has been linked to seizures that cause a driver (or potentially a pilot) to lose control of his vehicle.

My recommendation, as always, is to find a way to quit smoking that doesn't involve putting more drugs into your system. I know, I know... that seems like a crazy idea in today's world... but there it is.

Taking a dangerous drug to cure an addiction to a dangerous drug simply doesn't make sense.

Here's a portion of the article. The link to the full article follows below.

Chantix Suicide a Real Possibility
November 22, 2008. By Heidi Turner

Mound, MN: Amy M. can tell you that the possibility of a Chantix suicide is very real, especially for people who already experience depression. She was on Chantix for just over a week when she began suffering serious side effects. Amy has since stopped taking Chantix, but says she is worried about other people who may be severely affected by the drug.

"Before I started taking Chantix, I called the doctor. I have borderline personality and anxiety disorder and depression. I am being treated for all of them and I'm doing fine. I see a counselor and the only medication I was on was 50 mg of Zoloft. I read all the side effects of Chantix and told the doctor that it sounded a little risky, but she wanted me to try taking it anyway.

"So, I started on August 21, 2008. On August 29, 2008, I called the Chantix hotline because I had that support system in place. I was a frantic mess. They [the Chantix hotline alerted the health department to Amy's situation and passed along their notes] wrote down that I had irritability, I was screaming and crying, I was out of control and depressed, I felt like killing myself and I was yelling at everyone around me. I was afraid to eat and I could not sleep. There was probably much more than that, but I do know that I wanted to kill myself and I was out of control. I don't remember everything I said because I was so out of it, but I know I was frantic.

"Then, on September 2 [after moving up to 2 Chantix pills a day] I really went out of control. I called my mom and she told me to get to the ER because I told her I wanted to kill myself and I was screaming and crying. I went to the ER and they asked me if I would kill myself. I said that I would not, which was why I had gone to the ER, so they gave me Ativan. The doctor felt it was safe to let me go because I was not psychotic. I was to take one Ativan every 8 hours until the Chantix was out of my system. Two days after the Chantix was out of my system, I was 100 percent back to myself.

"I would not recommend this drug to anybody. I have heard good and bad about and I am very afraid that it will take someone's life. If this can happen to me, it can happen to multiple people. I can't believe how bad it is. It's not good."

Click here for the full article.

Great American Smokeout is Today

2008-11-20T11:09:00.010-05:00

Today marks the 33rd Annual Great American Smokeout, an event originally intended to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, the American Cancer Society's website is built to funnel wannabe ex-smokers into NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) and even drugs like Chantix.

There is a brief paragraph on hypnosis on the site, but it's on a secondary page and is mentioned almost as an afterthought... sort of like "well, the results of hypnosis are inconclusive, but hey... if you want to try it go ahead."

Now, it's become sort of a mission of mine to point out the dangers of Chantix, and to an extent, the other prescription drugs created to assist with smoking cessation. In spite of the warnings on the labels and in commercials, the public remains largely unaware of just how serious the side-effects can be.

As you can find elsewhere on this blog as well, Chantix is currently involved in multiple lawsuits related to users who committed suicide shortly after taking it. There have also been cases where seizures have occurred and led to auto accidents, which is why the Federal Aviation Administration banned its pilots from using the drug earlier this year.

Regardless of the outcome of these lawsuits (which, if like other lawsuits brought against Pfizer and the other Big Pharma giants, will likely end in settlements), the plain truth is that it simply isn't worth the risk.

There are just too many other ways to quit smoking that don't involve imbibing chemicals that interact with your psychology.

So, if you want to quit smoking, cross Chantix, Zyban and Wellbutrin off your list. You are strong enough and resourceful enough to quit without them.

You don't need NRT, either. There is overwhelming evidence that the majority of the addiction to smoking is mental, not physical. NRT methods only address physical symptoms; they do nothing to address the myriad associations you have with smoking, nor do they address your beliefs and attitudes related to smoking, which are powerful factors in determining your long-term success in becoming a non-smoker.

To put it simply - your body isn't nearly as addicted to cigarettes as is your mind. Once the mind forgets about the habit, whatever physical attachments remain are insignificant. It's just like going to the movies and, while absorbed in the story, forgetting about smoking until the movie is over and you exit the theatre, There is no battle with will power; no cravings or withdrawal.

When you deal with the mental aspect, quitting becomes far easier. For those with a sincere desire to quit, and who are through making excuses or rationalizations, the mental adjustment is enough to get through the stressful situations or other negative emotional experiences that would otherwise lead to relapse.

To be fair, the American Cancer Society's website does recommend counseling sessions for smoking cessation. However, it also says that the greater the length and frequency of the sessions, the greater your chances for success. That's just not true.

Whenever I discuss my clients' experiences, please keep in mind that I am not endorsing hypnosis as a magical cure-all that works 100% of the time. The truth is that what is discussed and covered during a session of hypnotherapy, in combination with the techniques employed, is what determines the individual's success.

That said, the majority of my clients are successful quitting after one session lasting approximately 1.5 hours. This success has been measured over time, with many of them now smoke-free for three, four and five or more years. They haven't had another puff after that initial session.

Remember that when you see another commercial telling you that, because you've been smoking a long time, it should take a long time to quit.

Nonsense.

Your mind is the most powerful tool you have at your disposal. So if you've chosen today as your stopping point, don't give your brain a chemical cocktail of pharmceutical drugs; instead, let it operate at its maximum capacity and lead you to success naturally.

Hypnosis is one of many ways to achieve that outcome. Find one that suits you and you'll be on your way to success.

Quit Smoking, Save a Grand?

2008-11-16T20:24:00.006-05:00

Keep in mind that the numbers in the story below are conservative... meaning that they are based on an average for all smokers in a given state. For example, they point out that in Delaware, where residents smoke more than in any other state, the average smoker spends nearly $1000/year on cigarettes.

That number is based on an average of 185 packs in a year. Therefore, if you smoke one pack per day, you're spending roughly twice that amount per year (for those of you without calculators, that's about $2000/year).

For more info on the true cost of smoking, see the results of this study by Duke University that put the cost closer to $40/pack. I commented on this story myself just a short while ago as well.

Here's the story from Forbes.com:

What You'll Save By Quitting Smoking
Francesca Levy, 11.12.08, 04:00 PM EST
A state-by-state look at the dollars kept by kicking the habit.

Most smokers already know that they can help preserve their health, hygiene and personal relationships by kicking the habit, and that holds true across the country. But in strictly financial terms, smokers in Delaware stand to save the most cash by quitting.

That's because in Delaware, where a pack of cigarettes costs about $5.39, residents smoke more than in any other state--just over 185 packs per year. That comes out to $998.23 spent individually on smoking every year.

Click here for the full story at Forbes.com.

12 Reasons to Really Quit Smoking

2008-11-14T12:20:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that I've never met a smoker who wasn't already aware of the risks. However, what many smokers admit is that they simply don't think about (i.e. ignore) these risks, because they know that if they did give them more than a moment's thought, it would be very difficult to rationalize that next cigarette.

Here, I'll simply list the 12 reasons. The full article is available at the US News and World Report website.

1. It fogs the mind.
2. It may bring on diabetes.
3. It invites infections.
4. It may stultify a sex life
5. It may lead to wrinkles...everywhere. [including the hind quarters]
6. It may hasten menopause.
7. It may dull vision.
8. It hurts bones.
9. It may injure the insides.
10. It may stifle sleep.
11. It shaves years—and quality— off life.
12. It's tied to lots of cancers!

I want to close by mentioning something important about #11 on this list. From the article...

"Men who have never smoked live on average 10 years longer than their peers who smoke heavily, according to an October report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Moreover, they enjoyed a higher quality of life throughout those extra years, throwing sand in the face of the old smokers' defense that an early death is a small price to pay for a lifetime of pleasure . The study's Finnish authors drew their conclusion after scrutinizing data on more than 1,600 men tracked for nearly 30 years."

This caught my attention in particular because my best friend in the world used to use this defense for continuing to smoke. He would joke around and say "yeah, it might shave off a few years at the end of my life... but those are the worst years anyway."

That gave me a laugh at the time, but the truth is that it doesn't quite work that way. Not only will you die sooner, but the last years of your life are likely to be spent coughing, hacking, having difficulty breathing, possibly strapped to a hospital bed or slowly fading away in a nursing home.

I'm happy that my friend did eventually quit. He had some serious health problems a few years back, and he found out that he absolutely hates being in the hospital... even for a few days.

Imagine spending a few weeks, months or years sitting alone in that uncomfortable bed, eating that lousy food, watching reruns on that TV up on the wall, breathing through the tubes running out of your nostrils, unable to go where you want to go or do what you want to do for the remainder of your life.

It's not as easy to light up that next one when you're looking at things honestly.

Remedy for Hard Times: Cigarettes and Big Mac's?

2008-11-10T22:11:00.013-05:00

Please note the sarcasm in the above headline.

[yes, hypnotherapists are permitted to have a sense of humor]

I found this story today from Reuters, wherein we discover that due to the increased stress of the financial crisis and struggling economy, smokers are lighting up more often. Even a few non-smokers are falling off the wagon, citing the economy and stress as reasons for resuming the habit. More on Mickey D's follows below...

Check it out:

Hard Times Prompt Americans to Increase Smoking

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Stress caused by a slowing economy, shrinking retirement accounts and rising unemployment rates is driving some American smokers to increase the habit or delay quitting, according to a new survey.

A quarter of smokers who are worried about the economy said fretting over it has driven them to smoke more each day, while another 13 percent said they have delayed quitting.

What's that? Smoking has become cool again?

"The turbulent global stock markets have caused virtually every American a certain level of stress. Those who also struggle with an addiction to tobacco products are at an increased disadvantage as they contemplate quitting, or feel the urge to smoke more cigarettes," Cheryl Healton, the president and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation, said in a statement.

View the full story here.

If that weren't bad enough... on the very same day, I see this headline on the Drudge Report:

McDonald's Same-Store Sales Rise 8.2 Percent

NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers worldwide who are watching their spending bought more burgers and chicken breakfast biscuits at McDonald's in October, leading to a big rise in sales at established locations for the fast-food leader.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Now listen, I understand that times are tough. Unemployment is up, there are bills to pay, credit card debt is piling up, and you just don't know what the heck you're going to do about it.

One thing is certain, though - poisoning yourself with cigarettes and greasy food is not the answer. These things make you feel worse, not better... that's in the short-term and the long-term.

If you're going to cut corners, cut out the $4/day nicotine habit. Replace it with a decent, home-cooked meal. You'll not only feel better immediately, your body will reward you down the road:

You won't get sick as often.
When you do get sick, it won't be as bad or as long.
You'll have more energy.
You'll look better.

I could really go on, but the very simple point is that these crutches don't work. Cigarettes don't eliminate stress... they just distract you for a few minutes. The problems return as soon as you put it out (oh, I know... you clever ones will say "that means you just light up another one!"... but there's really no need to try to reason with you).

Your financial difficulties are going to be best addressed when you're healthy and in a good frame of mind. Try relaxing a bit - naturally. Eat a healthy meal. Find the best, most efficient method of quitting the smoking habit and do it right away. The money you save on cigarettes will add up quickly, no matter how much you spend to quit.

Oh, and go watch the documentary "Super-Size Me"... that'll cure your McDonald's addiction very quickly.

Hypnosis No Sure Way to Quit Smoking

2008-11-10T10:19:00.011-05:00

To your surprise, I whole-heartedly agree with that headline. There IS no "sure way to quit smoking," but there are ways that are better than others.

First, I'll post this brief article from Harvard Professor Dr. Michael Craig Miller that appears today in the Denver Post. Afterwards, I'll comment.

Here's the letter (click here for the original story at the Denver Post):

Q: I've smoked for 20 years and want to quit. A friend recommended a hypnotist but it scares me. Does hypnosis work? How can I find out if this hypnotist is qualified and reliable?

A: Hypnosis is one of the oldest forms of psychotherapy in the Western world. It may also be the most misunderstood, given its association with entertainers and charlatans. But, in fact it is a specialized form of meditation and a relaxation technique.

Hypnosis involves focusing attention inward and using your imagination and positive mental images to alter your perceptions. It's similar to what happens when you daydream or meditate, and are unaware of what's going on around you. It may seem as if you're in a trance, but hypnosis is actually a heightened state of concentration.

The aim is to focus the mind on a specific image, sensation or goal while ignoring distractions. This tends to make you more open to suggestions that can help with treatment. Clinicians have proposed many uses, but it is most helpful for treating pain and anxiety. The studies evaluating the effectiveness of hypnosis for smoking cessation show a mixed picture.

Some studies suggest that hypnosis might help you stop smoking by reducing cravings, bolstering willpower or increasing motivation to take care of your health. Hypnosis can be used to soothe yourself while you have a craving. It also can help you replace your preoccupation with smoking with thoughts like, "I feel good about taking care of my body."

But a comprehensive review found that most of the current evidence is based on case reports or poorly designed studies. It concluded that hypnosis is no better than other interventions — or even no treatment at all — for increasing six-month quit rates.

I support your desire to find out more about the person who's doing the hypnotism. Many states do not regulate hypnotherapy. To make sure a therapist is qualified, ask if he or she is licensed (not just certified) to practice. Or check for membership in the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, two nationally recognized organizations for licensed professionals in this field.

Remember that the technique of hypnosis, which is intended to induce a meditative, focused state of mind, is easy to learn. You don't need any specialized training to invoke a soothing voice or to suggest focusing on some repetitive stimulus or a relaxing image. But a hypnotherapist does need specialized mental health training to understand emotional and behavioral problems, to evaluate them and plan a treatment.

Most therapists who practice hypnosis employ it as one tool among many that they are trained to use. Hypnosis, after all, is not magic. Rather, it's a specialized technique that may help you harness your brainpower to solve problems. And smoking cessation may be one of them.

--------------------

I would have to say that I agree with most of what Dr. Miller writes, right up to the point where he says that a "comprehensive review" (which he does not name or specify) "concluded that hypnosis is no better than other interventions - or no intervention at all," etc.

First of all, the methods used in the comprehensive review are extremely important. Who was doing the hypnotizing? How experienced or skilled was the hypnotist? What specific methods were used? Was NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) employed as well? Who were the subjects? What did subjects invest in the study? How many sessions were provided? Did subjects use self-hypnosis or a CD to reinforce the sessions?

Without knowing the answers to these and other important questions, the conclusions of this "comprehensive study" are questionable themselves.

Furthermore, by stating that hypnosis is "no better than other interventions," Dr. Miller is making a very grand statement. Nearly every other intervention used for smoking cessation involves taking harmful or addictive drugs that have dangerous side-effects. The patch, gum and lozenges all inject more addictive nicotine into your system, in spite of the fact that it may be in smaller amounts. You only need to do a quick Google search (or simply search this blog) to find that Chantix has been linked to seizures, violent tendencies, depression and suicide, as well as other side-effects. Wellbutrin is another powerful drug that produces a wide array of psychological effects on users.

Therefore, I'd have to say that hypnosis is most certainly better than other interventions, simply due to the fact that it has absolutely no dangerous side-effects. The only thing you risk with hypnotherapy is the possibility of losing a few hundred bucks. This is a far lesser risk than the possibility of becoming depressed or suicidal. Additionally, you just might learn something useful about how you can influence yourself through focused concentration.

Other inteventions promise a solution that comes from outside yourself... a shot, a drug, a patch, a pill, a laser, etc. Hypnosis is the only intervention that gives you the power to make the change yourself, and encourages you to take the responsibility for that change.

No one who quits via other methods will ever know what it feels like not only to be successful and free of the habit, but also to enjoy the sense of pride and accomplishment that goes along with being completely responsible for that success.

As for the question of a hypnotherapist being licensed by the state, your odds of finding such a hypnotherapist may not be so great. There are very few state-licensed therapists who specialize in hypnosis or smoking cessation. In fact, the reality is that if you do find a licensed therapist who also happens to practice hypnosis, it's likely they spend a very small percentage of their time actually hypnotizing people. It's not their bread-and-butter.

You are better off finding a hypnotherapist who hypnotizes people on a daily basis, and does nothing else. This is the kind of person who has the experience necessary to help you.

There's a grand misconception in this society that says you can't trust anyone who doesn't have a degree and fancy letters next to their name. The truth is that there are many competent people in all walks of life who do things exceedingly well. They may not have paid a university a hundred thousand dollars for the priviledge of being licensed, but they have the experience and the training that produce results.

I have no state license (there is no such requirement in the state of Georgia), and yet I have clients who haven't touched a cigarette in more than five years after one session of hypnosis... and those were my very first clients.

But a hypnotherapist does need specialized mental health training to understand emotional and behavioral problems, to evaluate them and plan a treatment.

Maybe, but what if you don't have "emotional and behavioral problems?" What if you're a well-adjusted, capable human being who just wants to stop smoking?

Most therapists who practice hypnosis employ it as one tool among many that they are trained to use.

This one is demonstrably false. "Most therapists who practice hypnosis" are hypnotherapists. One only need to attend the yearly National Guild of Hypnotists Conference to see that. Hypnotherapists may indeed have many tools, but they almost always use hypnosis.

Who would you want to hypnotize you -- a licensed therapist who does hypnosis only on rare occasions, or someone who hypnotizes people several times every day?

Hypnosis, after all, is not magic. Rather, it's a specialized technique that may help you harness your brainpower to solve problems. And smoking cessation may be one of them.

True and true. There is no sure way to do anything, and there is no magic fix. But don't mistake the headline of this letter as a statement that hypnosis can't help you. It can, if you have a sincere desire to quit and you find a therapist who knows what he or she is doing.

Anti-Smoking Drug Linked to 10 British Suicides

2008-11-09T13:36:00.005-05:00

It seems that these stories are coming by far too often. Drugs which are supposed to treat depression and anxiety are causing people to become depressed and kill themselves.

I'll have more on this later. For now, here's the original story from the London Daily Mail:

--------------------------

By JO MACFARLANE
Last updated at 9:59 PM on 08th November 2008

Health chiefs have revealed that ten people have committed suicide after taking a controversial anti-smoking drug linked to depression.

The disclosure by the Government’s drugs watchdog is the first time officials have revealed the link between Champix and suicide in this country. Earlier this year, US authorities announced they were investigating 37 similar cases there.

Omer Jama with his nieces. It is thought he committed suicide as a result of taking the stop-smoking drug Champix.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website says a total of 24 people taking the nicotine-replacement have died, of whom ten took their own lives.

A further 213 claimed they had experienced suicidal thoughts and 407 said they were suffering depression.

There is no evidence that Champix has been a factor in any of the deaths. However, some experts are concerned that the drug, used by almost half a million people in Britain, may cause depressive thoughts and mood swings.

Last April an inquest heard how TV producer Omer Jama, 39, slashed his wrists eight weeks after starting a course of pills. A toxicologist told the hearing: ‘There is a possibility he could have been influenced by the side-effects of the drug.’

Click here for the full story.

Give it a Shot?

2008-11-08T21:11:00.009-05:00

Today I had a booth at a trade show, proudly displaying my hypnosis cd's, as well as sharing information about my private sessions to all who had an interest.

While I was there, my display caught the attention of an older man with a big round belly. He quickly struck up a conversation with me, telling me that, using "the shot," he quit smoking a year ago after smoking a pack a day for more than 48 years... and he hasn't touched one since.

While he was certainly happy at his success and the benefits it has brought, he did mention a strange side-effect... that he immediately began noticing shortness of breath within a week of quitting. That shortness of breath remains, and he's looking for help with that issue. Also, he quickly put on about 30 pounds... by his own account within just a couple months.

He said that he was completely exhausted for about three weeks following the shot (actually three shots: one behind each ear, and one in the arm), and couldn't really do much of anything.

I encourage every smoker who'd like to quit to seek out all the information available before making a choice as to what method is the best fit. I always come back to hypnosis because it's one of the only available methods that is not only effective when administered properly, but is also devoid of any negative side-effects.

Apparently, the shot has been effective for quite a few people. Of course, there will always be those who experience no benefits... just as is the case with hypnosis.

The key is always that you, the wannabe non-smoker, bring all your desire and will to the table. Do that, and one method or another will eventually help you reach your goal.

I happen to practice hypnotherapy, and having seen the success my clients have enjoyed, I am understandably biased. For me, you just can't beat a method that is non-invasive, involves no needles, injections, drugs, nicotine-replacement or side-effects, is extremely relaxing and allows you to enjoy feeling a sense of pride at having taken responsibility for your own situation and all the ensuing success.

Oh, and you just might lose a few pounds... rather than packing them on.

Stop Smoking Hypnosis: How it Works

2008-11-07T11:12:00.005-05:00

The YouTube video below is a podcast in which I describe in detail how my Stop Smoking Hypnosis program actually works, what you can expect and whether or not it could work for you.

So take a look and have a listen. This should answer some, if not all, of your questions.

Smokers See Decline In Ability To Smell, Rise In Laryngitis

2008-11-04T23:28:00.004-05:00

ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2008) — As Americans prepare for a day without cigarettes and tobacco products as part of the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout (R) (November 21), new research gives them more reasons to extend that break to a lifetime, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF).

Among the new research presented at the organization's annual meeting in September 2008 are studies that link cigarette smoking and upper airway symptoms ("smoker's nose"), the loss of smokers' ability to smell common odors, and most alarming, the role second-hand smoke plays in the rise of cases of "environmental laryngitis."

The first study, presented by Norwegian researchers, reveals that among 2,294 patients being evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, or nose-related issues, smokers were 12 to 27 percent higher than non-smokers in 8 of the 13 possible symptoms. The researchers believe that quitting smoking should be a primary therapeutic measure for patients with these upper airway ailments.

Click here for the full story at Science Daily.

What happens when I have a few drinks?

2008-11-01T21:29:00.013-04:00

This is a very common question that comes up with more than 50% of my clients seeking to quit smoking. Smoking and drinking have gone hand-in-hand for so long, and having a few drinks tends to loosen the inhibitions so much, that they find it hard to believe they can have a few drinks without lighting up.

The very first client I helped to quit smoking, more than five years ago, had that very same concern. He was successful immediately following his first session, and when he came back for his follow-up a week later, he said he was doing great. However, he was worried because some old college friends were coming to town for the weekend and they were going to be out drinking. Some of them were smokers, so he wondered, in spite of how great he was doing, what would happen once the drinks were flowing and the smoke was in the air.

We incorporated that possibility and prepared him for it during the session. He emailed the next week that all went well, and a while after that he sent me this message:

"Sean,

I want to thank you so much for helping me quit smoking. I smoked cigarettes for 14 years, and was beginning to believe that I would never be able to quit. I had tried everything from quitting cold turkey, to the patch, to gum, to nicotine lozenges... EVERYTHING! To make it even more difficult, I was an "all-day smoker," averaging a pack or more a day. So, I associated smoking with all facets of my life.

As much of a skeptic as I can be, I was very reluctant to try hypnosis. However, having now gone through your program, I am reaching my 4-month anniversary without so much as a single puff. I have no desire to start the habit again, and in fact, have recommended you to many of my friends so they can quit, too.

Thanks again, Sean, for helping me breathe freely again!

Here's to a healthy future!!

Cheers!"

-L.M.
Atlanta, GA

--------------

I've stayed in touch with him through the years, and I'm proud to say that he still hasn't had a puff in what has now been more than 5 and a half years.

When you quit smoking with my program, I don't just tell you to close your eyes and suggest that cigarettes will taste bad, I have to get to know you first. Once I understand the nature of your habit and your most important concerns, we incorporate them into the work we do.

Because of that, the message is personal, meaningful and motivating for you as an individual. You are like no one else, and because of that, you have your own reasons and motivations for making this choice.

When you're finished with this program, you're prepared for anything and everything... even a few drinks.

"It's harder to have cancer than it is to quit smoking"

2008-11-01T13:33:00.002-04:00

As you may or may not know, November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. I found a story over at About.com that will be of massive interest to anyone, especially those of you who are struggling to stop smoking.

Here's a brief excerpt. I highly encourage you to click the link below to continue reading the full story.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Cheryl, and I have been here before in one of my many attempts to stop smoking. I believe I lasted 3 months that time.

This is a very good site for great information and support. This site, and the good people I knew here, did not fail me. I failed myself. It just wasn't enough for me. I went back out to smoke yet again.

Of course I had reasons why my quit attempts did not work. They were many and varied, but the bottom line was this: I didn't try hard enough.

...Nicotine withdrawal was too hard.
...I figured I could always try again.
...I had plenty of time.
...People in my family never had cancer, and they all smoked, so I was safe.

I was diagnosed with limited small cell lung cancer and squamous third stage B, on November 19, 2003. It's inoperable and incurable. I had finally pushed my luck as far as my body could handle.

Full story: http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/ourstories/a/cheryl.htm

Doctors Lack Smoking Cessation Training

2008-10-28T09:30:00.013-04:00

Here's a new story I found yesterday at Forbes.com (click the headline above for the full story). This is no surprise. Doctors have been trained to do many things with a high degree of skill, but helping people quit smoking is not one of them.

"It found that 87 percent to 93 percent of doctors and other health-care workers receive less than five hours of training on tobacco dependence," says a study at the North Shore-LIJ Health System Center for Tobacco Control in Great Neck, N.Y.

This is especially important to recognize, as many people put the utmost faith and trust in their doctors when it comes to anything related to their health. As for their "training," the less than five hours could be anything from 0.0 hours up to 4.99. It means that many of them receive absolutely no training at all.

"They surveyed 322 prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants) and 278 nonprescribers (pharmacists, registered nurses, social workers, counselors, respiratory therapists, and students)."

The best luck a person will likely have in seeking assistance from one's doctor is that he will prescribe a form of nicotine replacement like the patch, gum or lozenges... or perhaps he'll prescribe a drug like wellbutrin.

This is what doctors are trained to do.

To their credit, many doctors continually recommend that their patients quit smoking, lose weight and exercise more. The understand that taking a proactive approach is the most effective way to stay healthy. "An apple a day," as the saying goes.

However, there's a big difference between making recommendations and actually teaching someone how to make such significant changes. I can recommend you go to the dentist, but I can't do the root canal myself. I'm not trained for it. Likewise, doctors can recommend you quit smoking, but they can't help you quit.

Many people lack faith in practitioners of alternative therapies because they lack the fancy credentials awarded by esteemed institutions. It's important to consider the background and training of anyone in whom you're going to place your trust, especially with regard to your health.

However, it has been my experience that many people who have been stuck in one form of therapy or another for years (and years), whether with a psychiatrist, psychologist or other state-licensed counselor, have noticed little or no positive change.

After all of these "official" therapies fail, they call a hypnotherapist. Quite often, they notice benefits immediately -- actual changes in thought, feeling and behavior.

If you have a broken arm, see a doctor. If you have a toothache, see a dentist. If you want to stop smoking, lose weight or banish a phobia, see a hypnotherapist.

It's what we're trained to do.

Does Quitting Make You Think Bad Thoughts?

2008-10-27T13:01:00.005-04:00

Ever noticed yourself becoming so irritable while trying to quit that you had a desire to become violent? Maybe you were just focusing on some very negative thoughts.

Here's an interview with a client of mine who quit smoking with the assistance of my Stop Smoking hypnosis CD... and thankfully, he didn't listen to those voices in his head just prior to using it (listen just a couple minutes in for the specifics).

This is a man who realized he'd spent over $10,000 on cigarettes in the past eight years, and just decided that it was time to stop. While you're watching this, you may find yourself wondering: "How much have I spent on cigarettes throughout the years?"

Enjoy.

Don't Expect Help Paying for Hypnosis

2008-10-26T12:01:00.013-04:00

Many of my prospective clients ask if I accept various forms of insurance as payment, and while I would certainly welcome the support and participation of insurance companies with hypnosis and other alternative forms of therapy, the answer is typically "no."

It's not that I choose not to accept insurance, it's that insurance companies refuse to cover most alternative forms of therapy. Now this is a topic deserving of a lengthy article and discussion in its own right, but for now, I wanted to bring attention to this recent story from the state of Nebraska.

Neb. officials expect 3000+ to take advantage of quit help
Associated Press - October 25, 2008 2:35 PM ET

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - State officials estimate that about 3,130 Nebraskans will take advantage of the new Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation from December through the end of June.

But their chances to quit with help from Medicaid won't be limitless.

During the course of a year, Medicaid will cover two attempts by a person to quit smoking, allowing a maximum of 2, 90-day supplies of drugs. A maximum of 4 counseling sessions per year will be covered, and patients must enroll and participate in the state's Tobacco Free Quitline.

Hypnosis and other alternative treatments will not be covered. [my emphasis]

------------

This is not at all surprising.

Excuse my sarcasm (I'm sure you are aware that hypnotherapists aren't allowed to be cynical), but this is very typical. When it comes to health care, your tax dollars will only be spent on therapy supported by drugs and funneled through to the pharmaceutical industry.

If you think this viewpoint is cynical, consider the facts in the article. Medicaid will cover a 6-month supply of drugs for more than 3,000 Nebraskans, but only 4 counseling sessions. So who is going to receive the majority of these funds?

Hint: it's not your friendly neighborhood counselor.

I feel the need to continually remind the readers of this blog that simply because I'm a hypnotherapist, and thereby interested in generating new business to make a profit, doesn't mean I believe hypnosis will work for everyone, or that wellbutrin or other drugs don't help people to stop smoking.

I do, however, believe in freedom of choice in health care... that you, the individual, should be able to choose whatever form of assistance you desire in your effort to become healthier. If these companies were genuinely interested in your well-being, they would cover any and all forms of therapy, like hypnosis and acupuncture, that have been demonstrated to be effective.

It's unfortunate that an individual who would like to stop putting poisons (nicotine) into his/her body, when asking his insurance company for assistance, is told that they will only pay for him/her to do so by consuming even more drugs (the patch, the gum, wellbutrin, etc.)... all provided, of course, by Big Pharma.

So whether you choose hypnotherapy, acupuncture or any other alternative form of therapy that doesn't require you to continue to put drugs into your body, chances are you'll be paying out of your own pocket. I tell my clients to think of it as an investment, because really... the returns outweigh the expenditures exponentially.

You Don't Have to Become a Jerk!

2008-10-25T11:10:00.034-04:00

In all my years of helping people to stop smoking, this roadblock comes up as often as any other. My clients will talk about how, in the past, when they tried to stop smoking, they became moody, irritable and ill-tempered.

Yes, in their own estimation, they simply turned into great big jerks.

Don't make people cry because you're a jerk.

So you want to quit, but you don't want to be in a bad mood, you don't want to put on an extra 20 pounds, and you don't want to feel stressed, nervous or anxious all the time.

If you take a look at some of the most popular methods used for smoking cessation, several of them attempt to address those physical feelings that directly cause you to start acting like a jerk (sorry, no scientific data to back up that assertion, nor is any needed).

Here are a few options that can help you feel more relaxed:

Laser Therapy
Acupuncture
Wellbutrin (or similar drugs)
Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy

Now let's talk about how each of these options have been demonstrated to work.

Laser therapy and acupuncture work in similar ways. They cause you to feel more relaxed, which can be of tremendous value to someone who's been smoking for quite a long time. The feelings of stress, anxiousness and irritability are generally what smokers refer to when they talk about having a craving. If these feelings are reduced, the cravings are likely reduced.

However, many of my clients have told me that although they felt more relaxed, they continued to have a desire to smoke after trying these therapies. You see, because most people try hypnosis as a last resort, I get to hear about their failed attempts at using all the other methods.

Wellbutrin has worked for many people, however as with most pharmaceutical drugs, it also has some negative and dangerous side-effects. All one has to do is visit www.askapatient.com to hear it from the horse's mouth. Here's one quote from someone who used wellbutrin and who had experienced some success:

"However, now at the end of 3 months, I am feeling extremely depressed, to the point even of contemplating suicide--very unlike me. I also have bouts of extreme almost uncontrollable anger."

Here are two more from people who recently began using wellbutrin:

"had my first panic attack on this drug. shortly after starting it was diagnosed with high blood pressure (at 28)."

"I can't concentrate on anything, I feel like I can't think. I'm dizzy all the time, and nauseous. I have a constant headache in my temple."

There are literally hundreds of similar responses (just at this one website), with more being added every day. Needless to say, even if you stop smoking (which is nowhere near a guarantee), the side-effects should give you pause.

Laser therapy and acupuncture do some of the same things that hypnotherapy can do -- mainly taking away some of the stress and anxiety that often lead smokers to relapse -- but what they don't provide is what generally leads even those who experience short-term success to eventually pick up the habit again... your thoughts.

No matter how relaxed you feel, there are certain times of day, situations, locations, etc., that remind a smoker that he/she used to smoke. Even when the individual is feeling calm and relaxed, if the thought remains, the likelihood increases that a relapse will occur.

Hypnosis, when performed correctly by a trained professional, is the only available method that adequately addresses all the factors that contribute to smoking.

Physical feelings (stress, anxiety, etc.)
Associations (after meals, while driving, etc.)
Thoughts (self-talk, unconscious visualization)

When you not only feel relaxed, but also understand how to focus your attention in a way that allows you to forget about smoking most of the time, while changing how you think about smoking on the rare occasions when it does enter into your consciousness, well... that's what brings about long-term success.

So, if you want to quit smoking but you don't want to become a big jerk, there are several options available to you. It's up to you to choose which is best for you. Hopefully, the information provided here (although not entirely unbiased) will help you make a decision that will allow you to feel confident that you're investing your money wisely.

Be more like this person when you quit:

Because hey, the world has enough jerks already, right?

"Bark Like a Dog for Me, Baby"

2008-10-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

Does it ever confuse you that hypnosis is used to make people cluck like chickens in front of hundreds of strangers, yet at the same time it’s being used around the world by doctors, dentists and therapists alike?

Here I reveal the secrets of stage hypnosis, and why you never need to worry about losing control while hypnotized.

Podcast: The Secrets of Stage Hypnosis - Revealed

In This Economy, Can You Afford to Keep Smoking?

2008-10-22T10:21:00.003-04:00

When simply filling up the gas tank and heating your home is busting people's bank accounts, to realize that you could be wasting up to $1200 a month of your hard-earned money on a habit that might one day kill you... yeah, that's rough.

Duke University (right on "Tobacco Road") did a study a few years back that found the real cost of cigarettes is about $40/pack.

Here's an excerpt from the article available at the link:

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2004/11/costofsmoking_1104.html

In their new book "The Price of Smoking," Duke University health economists calculated this sum by analyzing all the costs of smoking -- personally, to the smoker’s family and to society at large.

Their analysis found that the cost for a 24-year-old smoker over 60 years was $220,000 for a man and $106,000 for a woman, or a total of about $204 billion nationally over 60 years. The figures include expenses for cigarettes and excise taxes, for life and property insurance, medical care for the smoker and for the smoker’s family, and lost earnings due to disability.

Welcome

2008-10-20T14:22:00.001-04:00

Hi there,

Glad you've stopped by.

This is the place where you can find all the best, most accurate information about smoking cessation in the blogosphere.

This includes:

Articles from mainstream news sources
Major scientific & university studies
Case studies
Interviews with past & present clients
Original articles & podcasts
Much more

I have a degree and background in broadcast journalism, so you can be certain that all of the information you find here will be properly referenced and fact-checked, with links provided whenever possible. I'm a therapist and a researcher, not a salesman.

All of this is provided for you, not with the intent of convincing you that hypnosis is the solution for you; rather, so that you can make the best, most informed decision possible on how to stop smoking immediately.

I'm not arrogant enough to assume that my methods are the best for everyone, and because you are an individual, it's up to you to decide which path to take in order to become healthier.

So whether it's the patch, the gum, the shot, the laser... or simply learning to use that brain of yours far more effectively... this is the place where you'll be able to examine the facts and decide which method is right for you.

I welcome questions and comments, and will personally respond to all questions left on this blog in a timely fashion. So please... enjoy perusing the site. I hope I can be of help in your quest to become smoke-free.

Sincerely,

Sean

Case Study: Interview with an Ex-Smoker

2008-09-29T13:08:00.002-04:00

Here's an audio interview with a client of mine (Heather) who used my program to stop smoking with hypnosis. A lot of your questions may be answered herein... as Heather talks about her experiences not only with hypnotherapy, but also her attempts to quit by using the patch, nicotine gum, laser therapy and even cold turkey.

As of the recording of this interview, she'd been successful for about a week shy of eight months, and she's one of my biggest sources of referrals, having sent me friends and others for smoking cessation and other issues as well.

So take a listen, and find out what it's like to be hypnotized, how it feels immediately following your initial session, what it's like to be around smokers after you've quit (and after having a couple drinks), and much more.

Enjoy.

Milton Erickson: The Father of Modern Hypnotherapy

2008-07-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

When I first began studying hypnosis, I quickly grabbed every book by Milton Erickson I could find. Reading these works was incredibly exciting. His methods and the results he achieved were nothing short of remarkable.

Anyone interested in hypnosis should take a little time and get to know who this man was. Without him, it's my opinion that hypnotherapy wouldn't be anywhere near as readily available (and it certainly wouldn't be as effective) as it is today.

Milton Henry Erickson, MD (1901 - 1980) was a psychiatrist and psychologist regarded by many as the foremost practitioner of medical hypnosis in his time.

He wrote "Hypnotic Realities" and many other books dedicated to the "Art of Hypnosis" and which document the many things he learned while treating the many patients he encountered.

He was a scientist and deeply gifted hypnotist.

He was founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, as well as a fellow of several APAs: The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, and The American Psychopathological Association.

He was noted for his often unconventional approach to psychotherapy, such as described in the book “Uncommon Therapy” by Jay Haley; for his extensive use of therapeutic metaphor and story as well as hypnosis; and for coining the term Brief Therapy for his approach of addressing therapeutic changes in relatively few sessions, often only a single session.

Erickson’s work and techniques were 'modeled' by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, the co-founders of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

For a very in-depth look at Erickson, written by Jay Haley while Erickson was still alive, click here.

Chantix Suicide Lawsuit

2008-07-11T15:42:00.008-04:00

I will continue to post stories like this as they emerge. The bottom line is that, even if the percentage of people who die as a result of taking Chantix is small, every single death is completely unnecessary. You'd be better off continuing to smoke cigarettes than to take these far more potent and dangerous pharmaceutical concoctions.

More than enough methods are available to stop smoking that have absolutely no harmful side-effects. Although I recommend hypnosis before any other method, I'd recommend anything other than pharmaceuticals (Chantix, Champix, Wellbutrin). The top of the list would have to be hypnotherapy and acupuncture. These methods should be attempted before any other because they're absolutely safe.

What you are beginning to see in regard to Chantix is only the tip of the iceberg. These cases tend to remain buried until the first one bursts through; others quickly emerge. You have to wonder if it's only a matter of time before we see a story like this about Chantix:

$894 million deal ends Pfizer's lawsuits over Celebrex, Bextra

If you wonder how drugs like these get approved in the first place, here's another headline:

Lawsuit claims Pfizer massaged Neurontin studies
Wed Oct 8, 2008 6:50am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc tried to suppress medical studies that did not support the use of its epilepsy drug Neurontin, internal Pfizer documents submitted in a U.S. lawsuit against the company showed.

The documents suggest that Pfizer's marketers influenced Neurontin's scientific record to boost sales at least until 2003 by delaying the publication or altering the conclusions of studies that had found no evidence the drug worked for various conditions besides epilepsy.

Remember this headline, from USA Today, back in 2005?

Pfizer faces a barrage of lawsuits

Here's another from June of 2005:

Federal Judge Rejects Pfizer’s Efforts to Dismiss Zoloft-Suicide Lawsuit

Minneapolis, Minnesota - - On July 20, 2005 United States Chief District Court Judge, James M. Rosenbaum rejected Pfizer’s effort to dismiss Kimberly Witczak’s Zoloft-suicide lawsuit. Mrs. Witczak asserts that Zoloft induced her husband, Timothy (“Woody”) Witczak, to commit suicide after suffering severe adverse reactions to the drug. Mrs. Witczak claims that Pfizer fraudulently marketed Zoloft as safe and effective and failed to provide warnings about Zoloft’s propensity to induce suicidality, despite Pfizer’s knowledge of the risk, as evidenced by internal memoranda and studies obtained through discovery. [my emphasis]

In an effort to prevent this evidence from reaching a jury, Pfizer sought to dismiss the case, arguing that Mrs. Witczak’s state law claims are "preempted" by federal law. Pfizer argued that, since the FDA approved Zoloft and did not, until recently, require a warning about suicide risk, any lawsuit blaming Pfizer for failing to warn about the risk is legally impermissible.

Suicides, side-effects and lawsuits are not the exception - they're commonplace. Because of their history and track record, pharmaceutical drugs, particularly those that affect you psychologically, should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. These companies (Pfizer, Merck, etc.) have shown repeatedly that the bottom line is more important to them than the well-being of the public.

Here are the first few paragraphs from the article about Chantix suicide. Click the link below for the full story.

Widow Sues Pfizer Over Chantix Suicide
By Ed Silverman // July 10th, 2008 // 12:43 pm

On January 3, David Collins killed himself with a shotgun, three months after he began taking Chantix, Pfizer’s controversial smoking-cessation pill. Now, his widow, Linda, has filed what may be the first product-liability lawsuit against the drugmaker over Chantix side effects and an alleged failure to provide sufficient warnings. And her lawyer predicts many more such lawsuits are on the way.

In her lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Indianapolis, Collins claims Pfizer failed to adequately study Chantix; delayed publication of studies containing Chantix risk info; failed to update Chantix labeling sooner, and denied Chantix is explicity to blame for suicide by instead suggesting such behavior may be the result of nicotine withdrawal. Here is the lawsuit.

“The magnitude of the safety signal associated with the risk is alarming,” Kristian Rasmussen, one of Collins’ lawyers, tells us. Prior to the suicide, David Collins exhibited aggression and had strange dreams, but had no history of mental illness. Pfizer has been criticized for not including people with mental illness in its clinical trials, because the drug causes neuropsychiatric side effects.

You may recall the FDA, last February, issued a health advisory about Chantix concerning ties to the side effects, shortly after Pfizer upgraded the labeling. At the time, the FDA reported 39 suicides and 491 cases of suicidal behavior or thoughts.

full article: http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/07/widow-sues-pfizer-over-chantix-suicide/

Viva La Trance

2008-06-13T13:44:00.005-04:00

Coldplay has a new album out next week, and in a new article it’s revealed that they hired a hypnotist to help them while creating “Viva La Vida” in the studio.

Here’s an excerpt from Entertainment Weekly:

Q: And you also hired a hypnotist during the sessions? What was that about?

BUCKLAND: [Producer] Brian Eno knew a hypnotist and we thought it might get some interesting results. We all went upstairs, sat down, and he walked around us. He got us into some strange kind of trance, and we came down and played some more.

MARTIN: Quite a long time, I think. It did work, actually. We came up with a lot of interesting noises, which we used. I think the whole process of getting our own place and working with Brian has been really liberating for us. Because it was starting to become a little difficult to be in Coldplay — there's so much opinion, expectation, and criticism. We wanted to be free from that for a bit, to try things and just be a little group, which Brian really spearheaded. So things like the hypnotism, all these little crazy experiments that he tried with us was just an effort to say, ''It's OK. Not everybody hates you because you're in Coldplay. Just play some music and don't worry about it.''

Other famous people known to have used hypnosis include Matt Damon, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Tiger Woods, Jimmy Connors, Rod Carew, George Brett, Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.

For a full list, see this page on my official website.

Why is Hypnosis Still Obscure? Think Green.

2008-06-07T21:01:00.001-04:00

I went through the first 26 years of my life without learning anything significant about hypnosis. I’ll spare you the story of how I first got into it, but I was certainly skeptical at first. I figured anything useful or effective would naturally be known about and widespread by now. I mean, duh… if hypnosis is so freakin’ great, why isn’t everyone doing it?

First of all, many people are doing it, but not nearly enough have even heard much about it.

There are many reasons why hypnosis still remains on the fringe. One answer is fear. People fear the unknown. They fear being controlled. They fear feeling stupid for being taken in by a scam.

Another reason is that there isn’t much money in curing people through hypnosis. Sure, there are hypnotherapists who make a decent living for themselves, but that’s nothing compared to the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry, which is based upon the assumption that only drugs can “fix” us, and that we, as humans, are ultimately powerless.

The top ten pharmaceutical companies earn more money per year than the other 490 Fortune 500 companies combined. You see, there is BIG money to be made by convincing people that they are powerless to help themselves.

Just watching the commercials during the evening news will “inform” you of two important things:

1) You have lots of problems.
2) A powerful new drug can help you.

Are you depressed? Try this powerful new anti-depressant! Can’t sleep? We have a great drug for that, too! Problems with erectile dysfunction? We’ve got you covered! Allergies? You betcha!

Take a look at “Big Bucks, Big Pharma” below. This is only part one, so visit YouTube to view the remaining portion of this informative video.

Also, check out this interview with Gwen Olsen, a former pharmaceutical sales rep and author of “Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher,” a book revealing her experiences not only as a member of the industry, but also as someone who took dangerous anti-depressants herself. Also check out Prescription: Suicide?, a documentary based in part on her experiences.

And by the way, if you’re wondering why you don’t hear too much about hypnosis on the news, just imagine how thrilled the drugs companies would be if, just after running an expensive commercial for Lunesta, CNN aired a story about how you can sleep easily and naturally after a few sessions of hypnosis.

Just a thought you may wish to consider...

Heck, women in the United States can’t even give birth to a child without going to the hospital and getting injected with a chemical cocktail. Even though women have been giving birth since, well, forever... they have been hypnotized by our society to believe that a hospital is the only safe place to bring a child into the world.

Here’s a trailer for “The Business of Being Born,” an excellent documentary about the state of the birthing industry in America.

Is there nothing we can do on our own?

You have a problem? Chances are there’s a fancy new drug out there that’ll make it go away.

Of course, there will be side effects to taking all these drugs, which are often far more serious than the problem being treated.

Furthermore, most pharmaceutical drugs have tested only slightly better than placebos! That’s a documented fact. In fact, the placebo issue has become so problematic for drug manufacturers that they are currently making efforts to exclude subjects who responded to placebos from future studies. How awful it would be if the public discovered that their new wonder drug was only 2% more effective than a sugar pill, not to mention the enormous financial expense and all the dangerous side-effects.

Sadly, many of today’s licensed psychiatrists have become more like glorified drug dealers. I have worked with many clients who had previously seen psychiatrists or other mental health professionals over a long period of time without experiencing any noticeable improvement. Maybe that’s because psychiatrists openly acknowledge that they can’t “cure” any mental illness (see video below).

The underlying message is that you need medical intervention to solve your problems. Now, is that empowering? Is that the kind of treatment that builds self-confidence or a sense of independence?

Of course not. But it is very difficult to sell people things they don’t need unless you first convince them that they actually do need it.

My message to my clients always boils down to this: you can do it. It may not come easily, but you can do it. You can find a better career. You can get back in shape. You can have fulfilling relationships. You can stop smoking, drinking, biting your nails and obsessing over trivial things.

You can do it and you can do it on your own. You may benefit from some guidance and good advice, but you don’t need to take a pill, and you don’t need a nose job or a tummy tuck to feel better about yourself.

That’s my message, and yes, I make a decent living by helping people understand it and change their lives for the better.

Hopefully by now you understand a bit more about why hypnosis, if it can be so powerful and effective, still isn’t as popular as McDonald’s or Starbucks.

Anyone who’s seen “Supersize Me” knows what a steady diet of McDonald’s will do to you, and that healthy, fresh foods are the way to go.

So maybe the fact that something is popular (or not) isn’t the most important thing when considering your options.

The truth is, you don’t even “need” hypnosis... but compared to the alternatives, it sure is a safer and far more reasonably-priced solution.

Keep that in mind, and keep that mind open.

Chantix Linked to Traffic Mishaps

2008-05-27T16:39:00.018-04:00

This story from the Los Angeles Times illustrates yet another danger of taking Chantix for help with smoking cessation.

[More info about Chantix follows below story.]

Drug taken to stop smoking is linked to traffic mishaps
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
May 25, 2008

Daniel Williams decided he’d listen to his girlfriend and his 8-year-old son and finally quit smoking, with the help of a new prescription drug called Chantix. He started taking the medication, and a couple of nights later, as he was driving his pickup truck on a country road in Louisiana, Williams suddenly swerved left.

His girlfriend, Melinda Lofton, who was with him, later told him that his eyes had rolled back in his head and that it had seemed as if he was frozen at the wheel, accelerating. Moments later, they were in a bayou, struggling to escape the murky water, Williams said.

“Since I was a kid, never had anything like this ever happened before,” he said. “It never happened before, and it hasn’t happened since. And all the tests I’ve taken say I have nothing wrong with me at all.”

The nonprofit Institute for Safe Medication Practices last week linked Chantix to more than two dozen highway accidents reported to the Food and Drug Administration, saying the mishaps may have resulted from such drug side effects as seizures.

Williams said he was considering suing Pfizer. His lawyer, Kristian Rasmussen of Birmingham, Ala., said he was aware of at least one other Chantix accident, involving a deliveryman who fell out of a moving truck.

Click here for the full story at the L.A. Times.

----------

This is merely one of the dangerous side-effects that Pfizer (the drug company that produces Chantix) failed to inform the public about. Here are some of the negative side-effects that Pfizer openly admits:

Nausea
Sleep disorder
Gas
sleeplessness
Constipation
Headache
Loss of taste

In addition, Chantix (marketed as Champix in the U.K.) has been linked to depression, suicide and other violent acts. This revealing article from New York Magazine details the author's own experience while taking the drug:

"I swallowed my first pill the next day before work... by the time I was halfway to the office, I started to feel a slight nausea coming on."

"By night four, my dreams began to take on characteristics of a David Cronenberg movie. Every time I’d drift off, I’d dream that an invisible, malevolent entity was emanating from my air conditioner... I’d nap for twenty minutes or so before bolting awake with an involuntary gasp."

"The most unsettling thing about sleeping on Chantix is that I never felt like I was truly asleep. Some part of me remained on guard. It was more like lucid dreaming, what I thought it might feel like to be hypnotized. And it didn’t entirely go away come morning. As I showered, shaved, and scrambled into clothes, I tried to shake a weird, paranoid sense that I’d just been psychically raped by a household appliance."

"For me, self-destructive fantasies began cropping up as cartoonish flights of fantasy—nagging chatter that became a little more concrete with every passing day."

"One afternoon... I began to wonder how I had succeeded in fooling myself that my life had any sort of value at all. Writing? Sure, it was what I’d wanted to do since I was 6—but at the end of the day, who cared? Maybe I should just go downstairs and leap in front of a tour bus. Or launch my head through the computer screen. All this seemed logical, but also weirdly funny, even at the time: I could see how crazy these impulses were, I could recognize them as suicidal clichés. But I couldn’t make them go away."

"I’ve blacked out a handful of times before, but now it wasn’t unusual to have five or six hours completely wiped out of my memory. I’d wake up with my clothes on, music blasting, and strange half-eaten sandwiches lying on the floor that I had no recollection of buying."

So what are the benefits of taking Chantix? After all, some people do quit with it, right? From the article about the traffic mishaps, there is this woman who's been successful...

Kathy MacInnis, 44, of Kingston, Mass., said she had been smoking for more than 30 years and quit on New Year’s Day. “Without Chantix, I had never been able to quit,” she said. “It just put me in a calm place.”

Okay, so it makes you feel calm. This is important, because irritability, anxiety and nervousness are typically what smokers refer to as "cravings," so take away those feelings and the cravings can go away. But how many people are successful with Chantix, and for how long?

Pfizer boasted in commercials that 44% of people taking Chantix in studies hadn't smoked after 12 weeks. After a year, about 23% still hadn't taken a puff.

And who were the people who took part in those studies? From the NY Mag article...

A total of 3,659 people were handpicked for the Chantix tests before it came on the market, an almost equal number of men and women, with an average age of 43. Nearly all were white, and the tests excluded anyone with a history of depression, panic disorder, heart disease, kidney or liver problems, alcohol or drug abuse, and diabetes.

So, if you're thinking about taking Chantix, the benefit is that you have about a 23% chance of being successful, at least for a year... but only if you happen to be about 43 years old, white, have no history of mental or physical problems of any kind, and don't drink much alcohol.

The cost is the risk of nausea, constipation, headaches, gas, depression, disturbing dreams (aka "nightmares"), difficulty sleeping, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and perhaps having a seizure and driving your car into a lake.

Continue to seek out more sensible and less risky alternatives to kicking the habit.

Destroying Hypnosis Myths

2008-05-26T18:04:00.000-04:00

“Are you going to make me cluck like a chicken?”
“Only if you want to.”

Let me tell you, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve had that exchange…

Here we are, forging our way into the 21st Century… we carry our ten thousand “favorite” songs around in our ipods, NASA is blasting probes into comets just as in those horrible (horrible) movies from 1998, scientists are able to clone anything that moves, and an overwhelming majority of the civilized world still thinks hypnosis is something that causes you to behave like a fool in public.

I’m here to bust up a few myths for all of you interested in gaining some enlightenment. Today...

MYTH #1: The hypnotist controls his subjects.

The Truth: The hypnotist’s subjects cooperate with him.

Stage hypnosis shows can be highly entertaining. Unfortunately, they also do a great job of convincing people to NEVER allow themselves to be “controlled” like those morons on stage. Truthfully, no one can be hypnotized against their will. One must willingly follow instructions to be hypnotized.

Once a person is relaxing in a nice, deep trance, those nervous feelings of self-consciousness can disappear for a while. Think about it… relaxation is the exact opposite of tension. You can’t be both at the same time. Once a person is relaxed, as long as the hypnotist doesn’t suggest anything that is against that person’s moral code (ex. “kill the guy sitting next to you”), they’re more or less willing to follow along.

Hypnosis loosens up inhibitions… almost like a couple of stiff drinks. The difference is that afterwards, instead of feeling worse, you feel great.

Context has a great impact on what a person will do in a trance. For example, if a client seeks my assistance to stop smoking, and in the middle of the session I throw in a suggestion that he’ll have a strong desire to wash my car on his way through the parking lot, he has the presence of mind to ignore that bogus suggestion (though I often wish it did work that way).

Those people on stage know they’re up there to have a good time. They know they’ll be asked to do strange things. Remember, they volunteered in the first place. They weren’t dragged from their seats and chained to the stage.

A hypnotized person arguably has more control than normal, since his mind is free from distractions and focused on the moment. At any time while hypnotized, he is able to awaken and return to a normal state of awareness. However, most people find that it just feels better to hang out in a trance for a while.

So remember, when you see a magic show it’s not really magic that’s happening up there... we all know that. In a hypnosis show, the illusion often being presented is that the all-powerful hypnotist controls his subjects like puppets on strings.

The truth is much less impressive, yet makes for an equally entertaining show.

World Hypnotism Day

2006-01-04T15:51:00.002-05:00

"Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account."
-Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

Happy New Year!

Visit the official site - www.worldhypnotismday.com - for information and free hypnosis audio clips as well. Of course, this is the time of year for resolutions... so if you'd like to ensure that you stick with yours longer than the kids stick with their new toys, hypnosis may be just what you're looking for.

Give us a call and set up your free consultation today.

You've got nothing to lose... except your resolve.

Many blessings for the new year.