The New Year spells a time for new resolutions, so we caught up with Susan Hepburn, a world leading smoking, addictions and weight loss expert to find out how smokers can best quit for good. Keen to kick the habit? Here are a few statistics about stopping might help you to take the plunge…
**After 20 mins since the last cigarette **- your pulse and blood pressure returns to normal lowering your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
**After 12 hours **- many toxins leave your body, you will breathe more easily and experience increased energy levels.
**After 2 weeks **- your lungs begin to work better and the risk of heart attack decreases. Your circulation improves and you feel fitter.
**After 3 months **– your lungs have regained some of the capacity to clean themselves and blood flow to your limbs will be improved.
1) Please can you explain who you are and what you do?
My name is Susan Hepburn and I use hypnotherapy to help people quit smoking, overcome addiction and lose weight. I am also an author, public speaker and have opened several clinics in order to help as many people as possible to quit smoking, moderate alcohol, lose weight etc.
**2) Why are you so passionate about helping people to stop smoking? **
Firstly, my mother died aged 54 from a smoking related disease leaving my family devastated and secondly, smoking prematurely kills over 120,000 people in the UK and 5 million worldwide every year. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death and the World Health Organisation estimates, that unless we take action, tobacco could kill around 8 million people every year by 2030.
3) Why is hypnotherapy so powerful when it comes to giving up?
****Hypnotherapy is a simple but radical way to gain control of your habit. It is a way to permanently change how you think about smoking forever. During the hypnotherapy, I ‘delete’ the associations that make a smoker crave, meaning that they will quite simply, no longer want to. This treatment makes possible a lasting control over the stresses that caused the habit to continue for so long.
4) How does a smoker know they are ready to stop?
****It is important that you want to quit smoking for yourself, rather than being pressurised by someone else. I always suggest the following tips...
i. Choose a ‘quit date’ which will be as stress free as possible
ii. Calculate how much smoking costs you annually
iii. Think of what you can or will buy with the money saved
iv. See yourself as a non-smoker when you quit
**5) Is it ever too late to stop? **
No, never. I treated one lady who was 80 and was proud to have quit after 50 years of failed attempts.
6) Hypnotherapy sessions can be expensive, are there alternative methods that you would suggest?
****If you look at the savings as opposed to the cost of one session with me (£295) it is well worth the initial cost. However my books Stop Smoking in One Hour and Hypnoquit are just as effective and are a fraction of the cost of a session.
7) Can you say how many hypnotherapy sessions it takes for someone to stop?
One hour session is all that is needed to quit smoking. I don't need to deliver the message more than once. Smokers have no cravings or inclination to smoke again and do not need a substitute without side effects.
9) What are the chances of relapsing?
The chances of relapse are very rare - I probably see five people a year who need a second session. All my smokers have my mobile number so that they can call me if they are struggling. Before a smoker leaves my room (as a non-smoker) I also ask them to practice some breathing exercises for 3 days and request that they continue to exercise, eat healthily and drink lots of water to flush out toxins.
**10) What is the best way to find a hypnotherapist? **
Recommendations are the best way to find a good hypnotherapist, otherwise ask your doctor for a referral and check the register of hypnotherapists to ensure that yours has a good reputation.
**Susan Hepburn 136 Harley Street Tel: ****0207 487 5200 www.susanhepburn.com **
Twitter handle: @SusanHepburn1
Facebook Handle: https://www.facebook.com/susanhepburnclinics