Smoking Ban Prompts Some to Seek Alternative Treatments to Quit

Source from:  The Detroit News 10/08/2012

Michigan's smoking ban at bars and restaurants is spurring more smokers to turn to hypnosis to curb their cigarette consumption. As nicotine patches, gum and willpower fail to help kick the habit, smokers are seeking alternative treatments such as hypnotherapy and acupuncture to end an addiction that's damaging their health and now forcing them to get their cigarette fix outside eateries where smoking was once welcomed. Metro Detroit hypnotherapists are reporting an uptick in business and inquiries from smokers grappling with a ban that has ostracized them and altered their lifestyle. Kim Manning of Focused Solutions Hypnotherapy in Bloomfield Hills said business at her clinic has increased 20 percent since the ban took effect May 1. John Tomlinson of Tomlinson Medical Hypnotherapy in Grand Blanc said he saw an uptick in inquiries for hypnotherapy in late April. Interest in acupuncture, which is comparable in cost, is also slightly up, said Julie Silver, president of Acupuncture Healthcare Associates of Michigan Inc. in West Bloomfield. "Consciously, everyone knows how to stop smoking," Manning said. "You just stop. You don't buy them, you don't light them, you don't use them." But it's rarely that easy, hypnotherapists say. Hypnotherapy addresses the subconscious mind, where a smoking habit takes root. Treatment varies on a case-by-case basis. But while hypnotized, a patient is usually trained to visualize a life without cigarettes, whether it's hiking up a mountain with clear lungs or tasting food with more sensation. "It's the same basic power that gets people to act like chickens that gets them to stop smoking," Tomlinson said. However, hypnotherapists stress, the treatment is not at all like what hypnotists on cruise ships or comedy shows do to get audience members to act in amusing ways. "There's the misconception that with hypnosis, you lose control," said Carolyn Daitch at the Center for The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Farmington Hills. The therapy, which is also used to combat eating disorders, phobias and irritable bowel syndrome, is less effective for patients who lack imagination. Treatment won't work for patients who are quitting against their will, because a person can't be hypnotized to do something he or she doesn't want to do, Daitch said. With hypnotherapy, a lifetime of smoking can be laid to rest with a few sessions spanning a couple weeks. But at a few hundred dollars for a multi-session package, hypnotherapy is more expensive than other methods smokers use to quit. The price tag promotes success, said Tomlinson, who charges $100 per session and claims an 80 percent success rate after four treatments. "You get people to commit with their dollars, and they're definitely in the game," he said. The biggest key to a successful treatment is that the patient genuinely wants to quit, according to practitioners. "When people are ready, they're going to make changes," said Dawn Wheeler, a hypnotherapist with Mind over Matter in Rochester Hills. Even the rising cost of cigarettes and additional taxes levied haven't been a deterrent to the nicotine addicted, Wheeler said. Fran Kulwicki, 62, of Sterling Heights said she has tried to quit on her own several times since adopting the habit as a teenager, but nothing worked until she tried hypnotherapy last month. In therapy, she learned to substitute a glass of cold water for her nicotine cravings, and now the desire is gone. "I don't want to smoke anymore," she said. "I don't need to." Amy Hale at Changing Lanes Hypnosis in Plymouth expects a second wave of interest in hypnotherapy to surface later this year after smokers try cessation prescriptions covered by insurance. "These programs can take a few months to be effective, as well as a few months for smokers to gain the courage to make another attempt to quit," she said. Enditem