Use These Cognitive Behavioral Techniques to Overcome Your Nicotine Addiction

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Quit Smoking Today Podcast 10 min 1 speaker 7 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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How can I use cognitive behavioral therapy to start quitting smoking?

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 0:00

Today I want to show you how to use cognitive behavioral therapy to overcome the pattern of smoking. Because you finally want to get rid of this addiction. And the first step to getting rid of this addiction is to step into a role that most people don't even think about, but that you already think of, or maybe not yet, but in just a moment when I mention it. And that's the third person. observer role because what you want to do is to step a little bit away from the emotional turmoil that this addiction has brought upon you and that you might also feel in relation to finally quitting smoking to take a step back and to look at your triggers at your smoking triggers from a very yeah I could say detached logical perspective.

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 0:50

Because you don't want to be trapped in the emotions and say, oh my god, yeah, I have to smoke all the time and I wanna smoke all the time and when I don't get a cigarette then I'm getting stressed and nervous and uh Instead of going down this path, you want to go down another path, and the other path leads you to, yeah, we could even say awakening. It leads you to a point where you know exactly in which situations you are more likely to smoke than in others, in which emotional states you are more likely to smoke than in others, and which routines you might have to adjust in order to be less likely. To fall into this trap and in order to be less likely to smoke. So for example, it could be that you always smoke.

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 1:33

When you are in the same bar on the same chair, then you might want to change the bar or you might want to change the chair. It could be that when you're stressed, which is something that so many of my clients have experienced, then you're more likely to smoke, which could lead you to the conclusion that hey, I might have to work on my stress management in order to let go of cigarettes.

What triggers make me want to smoke and how can I identify them?

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 1:54

It could also be that, for example, with a specific person you are more likely to smoke, especially and this is the worst case scenario if you have a friend who doesn't want to accept that you not Want to be a non-smoker and they actually try to trap you in the state of being a smoker, then you might have to make a decision that is not that easy to make, but that in this case is absolutely necessary to make, and that's to spend less time with this particular friend. And then once you know all these triggers, then it's time for cognitive restructuring. And now you might be saying, huh, what the hell is cognitive? Restructuring. Well, it simply means that you again, as a third-person observer, become aware of all the negative beliefs, all the negative perceptions, all the negative thoughts that you have in association with yourself and with cigarettes, and with your ability or inability, or let's better say, your ability and perceived inability of quitting smoking.

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 2:53

So for example, one way of changing. Challenging and changing an irrational and unhelpful thought would be to change the thought from I can't relax without a cigarette. into I am able to easily relax without a cigarette or the thought of I just can't quit smoking into it is so easy for me to quit smoking. And here comes the most important point when it comes to this cognitive restructuring. It's all about the feelings. It's about you feeling yourself into this new state.

How does cognitive restructuring change my thoughts about cigarettes?

Certified Hypnotist & Cognitive Behavioral Coach 3:24

If you just repeat the words then it means nothing. But if you feel yourself Into this new state, then it means everything. So for example, when we take the reframing from I can't relax without a cigarette to it is so easy for me to relax without a cigarette, really feel yourself into this state. Do everything in your power to feel yourself into a state of how it would feel like if you were able to easily relax without a cigarette. And then this feeling signals to your subconscious mind. that you are already living in this new reality. And then remember that this cognitive restructuring process is the first step that should then at some point lead to behavioral substitution, which means that you replace smoking with healthy habits for you.