Michael was a tennis coach and playboy. Despite that he smoked 60 Marlboroughs a day.
He had had hypnosis to stop smoking previously and it had been instantly successful. He had stayed a non-smoker for three years and then he started again so he concluded it hadn't worked!
On closed inspection it became apparent that Michael had returned to smoking at a very stressful time in his life and I had to explain that anyone can become a smoker whenever they choose. In my view his previous treatment had been entirely successful. He had stopped smoking for three years and his therapist was hardly to blame for a decision he made after all that time. Nonetheless I promised to bear it in mind when constructing his post hypnotic suggestions.
One of the things you have to do with smoking is establish the trigger points. Some people ALWAYS smoke with their first cup of coffee; some when they make a phone call; some when they have made love. The first cigarette of the day is particularly important. In Michael's case he would wake up in the middle of the night just to have a ciggy. It is also important to understand why a person wants to stop smoking. Michael began with the usual suspects (money and health) and then became a little more personal. He had lost a girlfriend seemingly because she neither liked sitting next to or kissing an ash tray. For a playboy this was a problem. Finally he got honest. He had heard that smoking diminished ones performance in bed and believed that as a non-smoker he would make a better lover. For a playboy that was a significant motivation.
I treated Michael in May 2001. He is currently working in Switzerland. He remains a non-smoker. He tells me his Italian girlfriend is very happy with him.