7 Addictions Hypnotherapy Can Help With

Do you find yourself staring at your phone more than you should, even into the early hours of the morning? Perhaps you accidentally maxed out a credit card because you just had to have an entire collection of memorabilia, or it’s your ‘very last cigarette’ for the umpteenth time.

There is a huge stigma surrounding addiction, which usually focuses on drugs and alcohol. The reality is addictions come in many forms and they affect many people in different ways. You don’t have to have an alcohol or drug addiction to qualify as being addicted to other things. 

Addiction can arise from several reasons, but the number one of them is fear. There is a fear of missing out, or a fear of falling back to such behaviours after time has passed. These are legitimate fears, however they don’t have to rule your life.

Hypnotherapy can be effective for those who experience the effects of addictive behaviours and substance misuse, since dependence is greatly connected with subconscious causes and drives. It can also help you address the underlying reasons behind your fear of quitting, or what compels you to continue having this fear. 

By reading this, you’ve taken the first big step to successfully quitting, and I’m so grateful you found me. Learn about these top seven addictions hypnotherapy can help with. The list is by no means exhaustive, and you can always check out the symptoms that indicate that a session can help you heal.

1. Food

Binge eating and constantly eating salty and sugary foods daily are all part of being a food addict. The key is to use the subconscious to help change the relationship you have with food, and the emotional attachment to what you choose to eat and when. 

The goal of hypnotherapy for a food addiction is to: 

• Make healthier choices when choosing what you eat. 
• Manage emotions, to help curb emotional eating.
• Be present for your meal, no rushing, no contest eating.
• Creating body awareness to prevent overeating.
• Lose weight based on eating what you need.

You can dive further into this subject by reading up on my Virtual Gastric Band.

2. Gambling

The compulsion to continuously gamble (scratch cards, placing bets, slot machines, card games, etc.) despite the negative consequences or desire to stop, is considered to be problem gambling or a gambling addiction.

Hypnotherapy for gambling involves using your subconscious mind to change your negative thought patterns and behaviours that associate with the problem itself. Together we can identify the triggers that led to your addiction, help you break free from the negative patterns, and learn how to manage your feelings and cope with triggers.

3. Alcohol

Once you’re in the relaxing hypnotic state, we can suggest ways to stop drinking using visualization. What this means is you will focus on images of achieving your goals while replacing responses to situations in which you would normally give in to your cravings and impulses.

Hypnotherapy can help you learn and understand how to implement good behaviours replacing old, destructive behaviours that resulted from use. We can help you to examine areas that need change in order for you to cope and view alcohol differently.

4. Drugs

Using hypnotherapy, we can help to make suggestions into your subconscious to avoid drug use and abuse and learn releasing triggers and dealing with the underlying problems.

The intent involves:

• Alleviating the severity of withdrawal symptoms through suggestion
• Creating suggestions of disgust or aversion to unwanted behaviours 
• Developing deeper and meaningful conversation without emotionally affecting your conscious mind
• Replacing the behaviour with a new positive one

5. Smoking

For smoking cessation, with hypnotherapy I suggest you imagine your life living as a non-smoker. During these sessions the focus in the first session is reducing consumption and the second session deals with underlying issues. I will address things such as what times you smoke and address other benefits you might get from smoking regularly. Suggestions are made for what will be done instead to get a break, relax or anything else that is linked to your smoking behaviour. On average it takes seven minutes to smoke each cigarette, what will you do with all that time as a non-smoker? 

Smoking cessation focuses on three main ideas:

• Enjoying a healthy body and life as a non-smoker
• Managing times of stress or other triggers with replacement habits
• Loving your body

6. Shopping

Shopping can stimulate the feel-good chemicals in your brain, and it can be an escape from the world. It can also be a way to avoid real world problems, or to feel like an ideal self. 

Excessive shopping aka “retail therapy” can cause financial problems and have emotional consequences, shame, guilt, and anxiety. It can damage relationships and create a personal sense of hopelessness. 

With my help I can help you associate your unconscious habits with values that will best serve you, allowing you to comfortably make the best decisions for you, putting you back in control. 

During sessions I will teach you practical strategies to manage emotions and how to deal with stressful situations and learn to find comfort within and connect with yourself in positive ways. 

7. Screen Time

The Internet has taken over how we socialize, access information, and entertain ourselves with games, chat rooms, social media, networking, and apps. When your usage is controlled and done in moderation, these things can remain harmless. However, it’s when they get out of control that screen time becomes classified as an addiction, and as a result it leads to neglecting everyday responsibilities. 

Internet addiction, aka Problematic Internet Use, covers many issues, which all involve compulsive screen time that interferes with daily life. 

Internet addiction includes online:

• Gambling addiction
• Compulsive web searching
• Uncontrolled social media and networking
• Cybersex addiction
• Cyber relationship addiction
• Obsessive game playing
• Television addiction (most shows and films are online nowadays)

With hypnotherapy, we can help you get a handle on your computer/smartphone use and work with your subconscious mind to make positive change and break free from the control of online addiction, with the goal being moderate and healthy use, not complete elimination. 

Have you been concerned you’re developing one of these addictions? If so, be sure to check out my related blog post, Signs You’re Developing an Addiction: Why Prevention is Key. This can help you to learn about addiction development and prevention.

And for any questions or concerns you may have, or if you feel you need to speak to me about your addiction, help is available. Contact me for a free 20-minute consultation. 

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