Smoking Treatments

This thread on smoking is from alt.psychology.nlp:

Stever Robbins on Smoking
From: Stever Robbins
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 94 23:57:43 -0500
To: Stever Robbins
Subject: alt.psych.nlp: smoking
In article <3dqis0$4ji@newsbf02.news.aol.com> dfranco@aol.com (Dfranco) writes:
>I'd like to hear what the experts on the list have to say about using NLP
>to help people quit smoking.
I've only tried it once, and it worked for a while, but then stopped working once the person got back into certain stressful
situations. Unfortunately, they were several thousand miles away, and we couldn't do some follow up sessions to "clean up"
the way they dealt with those situations.
My approach was multi-pronged:
1. I listened for whether she considered smoking just a behavior, or part of her identity. She often said things like, "Since I'm
a smoker..." which I interpreted as smoking being part of her identity.
2. We did a lot of NLP belief system work around that identity stuff. We took her timeline back to when she decided to
smoke, and did some reimprinting [see Dilts book "Changing Belief Systems with NLP"]. The issues were around defining
herself as an adult. Ultimately, we did an integration or two and seemed to work out most of the identity issues.
3. We had to deal with the actual behaviors of smoking. For this, I mainly did swish patterns on the sight of her hand coming
towards her mouth, and the sight of cigarettes in general.
4. To deal with the physical addiction, I borrowed a technique from "TRANCE-formations" and put her into a trance, and
suggested that the feeling she "used to think was a craving for nicotine" could now be an indicator of how happy she was to
be an EX-smoker.
5. Secondary gain. This was the one that unraveled it all. It turns out that smoking filled several useful roles in her life. Among
other things, her husband couldn't stand the thought of her quitting while he still smoked. So he would walk up to her and
blow smoke in her face [literally] while offering her cigarettes. Combined with other stresses in her marriage, well, let's just
say that she started again a couple of weeks after returning home from visiting.
It isn't clear what could have been done about the situation. The problems in the marriage were deep enough that there may
not have been anything that could have been done, short of divorce. [She died about six months later, from cancer, which
suddenly appeared and matesticized incredibly rapidly. She told me one day, about four weeks before she died, that she
couldn't think of any other way to get out of the marriage. Mind / body interaction? My jury's still out, but it sure seems that
way.]
- Stever
Tad James on Smoking
From: nlp*and@aloha.com (Tad James)
Newsgroups: alt.psychology.nlp
Subject: Re: NLP and smoking?
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 1994 23:28:48 LOCAL
Organization: Advanced Neuro Dynamics
In article <3dqis0$4ji@newsbf02.news.aol.com> dfranco@aol.com (Dfranco) writes:
>I'd like to hear what the experts on the list have to say about using NLP
>to help people quit smoking.
Dfranco,
Each month, I do a lot of therapy using NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line Therapy, and I believe that I have clients with a fairly
good success rate. Personally, I do think that you have to use all three to get good results.
Let me suggest something first: What ever technique you use, the client needs to be motivated to stop smoking. In most all
addictions, selection is VERY important. You do not need to see everyone! The client has to be motivated!
Generally, you have to make sure that they are here of their own accord -- not for spouse or parents, etc. Then have them
make a list of all the triggers(anchors) -- what caused them to smoke each time they smoked! Unmotivated smokers won't
take the time, so you will get maybe three cigarettes on the list. If that happens throw them out, and wait till you have a list
that lists every cigarette, and the trigger.
I have included a page from the Time Line Therapy Training manual as to the rest of the intervention.
----------------------------- Inclusion -----------------------------
Smoking:
1 Questions: What does smoking mean to them?
Core identity/self-image/breaking away from family/macho/masculinity
If smoked since early age separate identity/adulthood
May be about energy: have body create more energy
Usually need some Away in strat for speed/effectiveness
Towards may need no aversion/aways may need much.
2 List of triggers/anchors before beginning treatment. Reject if
insufficient = insufficient committment.
3 For how long have they been able to quit?
4 Do a Parts Integration to integrate smoking/health parts.
5 Time Line Therapy to disconnect Limiting Decision (w/health part.)
6 Change the client's Values so that Health is higher up on the hierarchy.
7 Time Line Therapy to disconnect triggers.
8 Replace triggers w/something else each time: what to do instead.
9 Using Hypnosis set up aversion anchor/amplify: "Remember vilest substance
eg burning rubber around mouth/lips/dripping down throat.
10 Put cig to lips/fire aversion anchor repeatedly.
11 Install Strategy for hands so can't hold cig: push it away/drop it.
12 Bring back to now.
13 Hand them cigarette
14 Future Pace recovery strat for backsliding 3x
What's the longest time you've quit?
Have fail 3x at shorter & shorter intervals to
install generative behaviour
Fail at not smoking but succeed at not smoking (time collapse)
15 Install on Time Line Therapy having quit twice the amount of time from
earlier to avoid withdrawal symptoms
16 Hypnosis to have nicotine/alcohol wash out of body only as quickly as
you can be comfortable/free of symptoms
17 Future pace (and to FP disbelief of family/friends)
I hope this helps, if you have further questions on this, or want more detail, just let me know.
In article <3dvf94$hl0@newsbf02.news.aol.com> dfranco@aol.com (Dfranco) writes:
>Tad--thanks for the ideas. Most of it makes sense. Could you explain
>steps 14 and 15 in more detail?
14 Future Pace recovery strat for backsliding 3x -- This means you need to future pace a strategy for recovering. So say,
they smoke -- how do they recover and stop again?
Ask: What's the longest time you've quit?
Then have them imagine failing fail three times (then recover) -- first longer than the longest time. Then, at shorter & shorter
intervals to install generative recovery strategy & behaviour. So ultimately they fail at not smoking but succeed at not smoking
at the same time ... (time collapse).
15 Past Pace (Install on the Time Line) having quit smoking at least twice the amount of time of the longest they've ever not
smoked. (So, client says, "The longest I quit smoking is 6 weeks -- install on the Time Line them quitting 12 weeks ago.)
This helps avoids withdrawal symptoms, since you aslo ask the Unconscious Mind to not have symptoms of withdrawal, by
"letting the nicotine wash out of the system only as quickly as there are no symptoms." From the point of view of Quantum
Biology, this is not how withdrawal symptoms work, but the metaphor will work.
>Also, does either of you have a strong opinion on whether it is generally
>better for a person to quit cold turkey or taper off?
I have them go cold turkey, but as already noted, no symptoms or discomfort.
Aloha from Hawaii,
Tad James, MS, PhD