"How can self hypnosis help me quit smoking?"

The cessation of any habit, while complicated in its dynamics, is essentially a matter of getting rid of the desire, or drive, to commit the habit. The drive to smoke stems from subconscious drives, but the behavior itself is under your conscious control and you can change it with the help of self hypnosis. It is the subconscious motivation to smoke that must be changed in order to quit smoking. Fortunately, self hypnosis is an effective and relatively easy way to change subconscious motivations. It does not work the same for everyone: Many people have found quitting smoking with self hypnosis to be easy and painless; for others, quitting smoking is difficult no matter what method is used. Regardless of how difficult it is, self hypnosis always makes it easier than it would otherwise be. Self hypnosis often means the difference between success and failure. Some have tried and failed to quit lots of times and were not successful until they enlisted the aid of self hypnosis.

Whether or not it is less easy than we would like, anyone can quit smoking with the help of self hypnosis.

"Does it work for weight control?"

Yes. Most cases of overweight are the result of over-eating combined with insufficient activity. Both, in normal cases, are under your control, technically speaking. So self hypnosis is perfectly valid and uniquely appropriate for getting your eating under control and for increasing your motivation to get more exercise.

"Can I use self hypnosis for things like interpersonal relationships?"

Your own behavior, through both supraliminal (overtly observable) and subliminal behaviors, is of paramount importance to the nature of every relationship. This includes romantic as well as career and professional relationships. And, while there is no universally accepted evidence that our minds can directly control the thoughts and behavior of others, self hypnosis can help you control your own thinking and behaving, as well as the subliminal cues you transmit to others. In other words, yes, you can use self hypnosis to influencethe behavior of others just as if you had direct access to their thoughts (always be suspicious of the word, "control").

"Speaking in public terrifies me. Will self hypnosis help me get over that?"

Self hypnosis is one of the most effective ways to control stage fright. I have taught hundreds of people — ranging from beginning college students to older, experienced professionals — how to use self hypnosis to control their stage fright and vastly improve their presentation effectiveness. Being somewhat nervous before giving a speech is natural and actually desirable. But the kind of fear that makes giving a good speech difficult or impossible is not necessary because it can be controlled with self hypnosis.

"Can I improve sports performance with self hypnosis?"

It goes without saying that there is a strong link between thinking and sports performance. Even Little Leaguers are acquainted with concepts like their "mental game." Self hypnosis has been shown to be influential in all forms of sports-related thinking. Many athletes use image rehearsal, a specific form of self hypnosis, to practice in their minds. This has been shown to significantly improve performance, sometimes more than actual practice.

"How about pain control?"

Hypnotic pain control — hypnoanalgesia (controlled feeling) and hypnoanesthesia (no feeling) — is well represented in the literature. Commonly reported are uses in dental procedures, surgical operations, and giving birth without any anesthesia other than hypnosis. Many people have gained control over chronic pain that did not respond to any other method.

"Can it help me get along on less sleep?"

Some have claimed that sleep requirements were diminished through the use of hypnotic suggestion, but those claims have never been satisfactorily verified. Some early experiments I conducted in promoting more REM sleep in shorter periods did show promise in reducing the amount of sleep required by the research participants, but this needs further research.

Most regular sleep research has shown that people suffer long-term deficits in health and mental functioning when they are deprived of the amount of sleep they naturally need. This is especially troubling in light of recent polls indicating that most people do not get enough sleep.

A much better use of self hypnosis is to improve the quality and performance of waking time so additional sleep time is not needed.

"Can I cure my insomnia with self hypnosis?"

Many people have found self hypnosis to be the perfect cure for insomnia, better even than, say, being forced to watch a PBS special on Swiss railroads. But it should be noted that sleep disturbances come in many forms, and not all of them have been shown to respond to hypnotic suggestion, most notably those caused by physical anomalies in one's air passage. But most cases of insomnia do respond well, and some types of sleep problems are surprisingly easy to control with self hypnosis. This may be true even for sleep problems that have gone on for years.

"Can I use it to make better grades in school?"

Yes. Self hypnosis is great for improving concentration and memory, reducing test jitters and the fear of participating in classroom discussions, and enhancing the motivation to study and learn. In the same vein, it is also helpful in uncovering and dealing with hidden blocks to learning and academic success, especially when coupled with autoquestioning.

I personally would not have finished college if it had not been for self hypnosis. You can read more about that if you are interested at and at..