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Breaking Bad Habits, Cravings, Addictions

Hypnosis is a natural, relaxed state of body and mind that can be effective during addiction treatment. Nicotine, substance, behavioral, and other addictions respond well to hypnotherapy. Typically, hypnotherapists tap into the subconscious mind to address learned beliefs that contribute to addictive behavior, helping clients make long-lasting changes and improvements.

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What Is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy relies on a model of the mind that includes conscious and subconscious aspects, both serving different functions to help people navigate daily life. The concepts of these two categories of mind serve as valuable tools in eliciting positive changes.

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Conscious Mind

The conscious mind can be likened to a laser pointer. It focuses on whatever you are paying attention to at any given moment. This focus includes experiences of all kinds, such as sights, sounds, thoughts, activities, and tasks. However, the conscious mind is also limited in range. Generally speaking, a person can be consciously aware of only a few things at a time.

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Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind contains our memories, beliefs, habitual patterns, and past learnings. In the case of dependence and addiction, a learned behavior, such as drinking alcohol, fixates in the subconscious. Even when a person consciously understands that the behavior has become unhealthy and has decided to change, it can be challenging to break free of the addictive pattern.

In the state of hypnosis—when the subconscious mind is more active and accessible—the hypnotherapist can help a person unlearn the old behavior. Dependent behaviors can be reprogrammed into more positive ones through relaxation, guided imagery, positive hypnotic suggestions, and other methods.

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Hypnosis for Symptoms of Addiction

It can be difficult for a person in the grips of dependence to admit to themselves or others that they have a problem. Recognizing that there is an issue and that they need help is the first step toward positive change. Dependence is deeply connected with subconscious causes and motivations, making hypnosis for addiction an effective solution for people experiencing the effects of substance misuse and other addictive behaviors.

Symptoms of addiction may include:

  • Inability to stop a behavior despite negative consequences

  • Cravings and mental obsessions

  • Needing increasing quantities of a substance to achieve the desired effect

  • Social isolation

  • Taking unnecessary risks

  • Experiencing legal and financial trouble because of the behavior

  • Withdrawal symptoms

  • Loss of appetite

  • Sleeplessness

  • Difficulty in relationships because of the behavior

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