If you have decided to stop smoking and kick the nicotine habit, there is a cure that is better and more permanent than using patches or switching to the new e-cigarette. 
Hypnotherapy has a proven track record over the years and can boast a high success rate with the majority of people who opt for hypnotherapy remaining non smokers. The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) has more than 1,800 qualified therapists around the UK who have experience in helping people successfully stop smoking.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK show that concerns that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking might be unfounded and that those using them are almost entirely current or former smokers.
Based on 2013 figures the ONS says the number of adults who smoked cigarettes had fallen to 19 per cent – down from 46 per cent in 1974. About one in 10 current cigarette smokers surveyed and one in 20 of the former smokers said they were now using e-cigarettes.
Over half of e-cigarette users surveyed by the ONS said the main reason was to stop smoking, and about one in five said it was because they thought they were less harmful than cigarettes.
But, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, worldwide tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the US, including an estimated 41,000 deaths resulting from second-hand smoke exposure, the CDC says.
More alarmingly, more than 250,000 US youth who had never smoked a cigarette used electronic cigarettes in 2013, according to a CDC study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. This number reflected a three-fold increase, from about 79,000 in 2011, to more than 263,000 in 2013.
So, how does hypnotherapy help quit this habit? While many battle to kick the habit, the physical addiction to cigarettes can be over after just one week of therapy. Research shows that by quitting smoking with hypnosis a person is three times more likely to give up than if nicotine patches were used.
With hypnotherapy, it is important to understand the reasons for giving up for the therapy to succeed and the therapist will assess your commitment to the treatment, as the desire to stop the behaviour or change the behaviour must come from you.
And it can be quick. It may only be a one-session treatment as smoking is a habit that you can give up for good, so the therapist may use what is known as aversion techniques which will put you off having another cigarette.
