Are you dealing with addiction to a specific substance? Do you feel controlled by a certain behaviour? Does your addiction leave you feeling powerless or without any hope? Do you feel like you’re losing grip on your own life across multiple levels – be it personal, social or professional?
Answering a resounding ‘yes’ to one or more of the above questions could mean that you’re dealing with an addiction disorder.
Addiction – whether of substances or behaviour – can hold you in an inescapable prison. It starts as a seemingly harmless activity, but over time can take over and hold you tight in its vice-like grip. Drugs, alcohol, or social media, irrespective of the type of addictive exposure, addiction can potentially disrupt your physical, mental and emotional well-being.
As an experienced hypnotherapist, I have helped many clients deal with their addiction problems. However, to break free from addiction, it’s important to understand the type of addiction you’re dealing with.
In this blog, I will talk about what addiction is, its multiple forms, and how hypnotherapy can play a pivotal role in the steps to overcoming an addiction.
Understanding Addiction
It is commonly thought that addiction occurs due to a lack of willpower or poor judgement. However, this is untrue. Experts say addiction is a disease that affects brain function and the reward system.
The underlying causes that lead to addiction can be biological, psychological environmental, or a combination. Understanding where your addiction issues stem from can help you identify the untapped issues that fuel your addiction.
Questions such as: ‘What triggers my behaviour?’ ‘What triggers my cravings?’ ‘What emotions does the addiction bury?’ can offer insights into the key reasons for your addiction. This then forms the base of your addiction treatment.
While there are multiple ways of treating addiction, hypnotherapy is highly effective and definitely worth a try. This is because hypnotherapy helps identify the triggers and the underlying cause of the addiction while offering a renewed approach to ending dependency for good.
Before we dig deeper into hypnosis for addiction, let’s first explore the common types of addiction.
Common Types of Addiction and Their Symptoms
Addiction is broadly categorised into two types, namely chemical and behavioural. Chemical addiction involves the use of substances like drugs, alcohol, and nicotine, while behavioural addiction involves persistent, repeated behaviours such as overeating, gambling and sex addiction.
Let’s understand these in more detail.
Smoking and Nicotine Dependence
Nicotine is an extremely addictive chemical compound present in tobacco-based products like cigarettes, vapes, cigars and pipes. Smoking is the most common way to acquire a nicotine addiction. A habitual user may long for the temporary feel-good effects of this compound at specific times, like after meals or when under a lot of stress.
Substance Addiction
Opioids (heroin and morphine), cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, and alcohol are classified as common addictive substances, in addition to nicotine. As these substances are illegal in most countries, those suffering from substance addiction reel under the stigma and usually choose to hold back from seeking timely professional aid.
Gambling Addiction
Gambling is acknowledged as a popular pastime. However, it can easily get out of hand. If you have an uncontrollable urge to visit casinos, play slot machines, buy lottery tickets, bet on sports or indulge in online gambling, you could possibly be dealing with a gambling addiction. You know gambling addiction has spiralled out of control when it begins to negatively affect your social and financial health, and, at times even get you in legal trouble.
Food Addiction
Seldom talked about, food addiction is a behaviour-based addiction. It is when you feel compelled to consume large quantities of particular foods. It eventually becomes extremely challenging to stay away from these foods, leading to other problems like weight gain. Food addiction is similar to other eating disorders such as bulimia, binge eating and compulsive eating.
Sex Addiction
Sex addiction is a type of behavioural addiction where there is a compulsive need to perform sexual acts to attain the feel-good effect. Sending explicit messages, watching hours worth of pornographic videos or attempting to touch others without their consent are some symptoms of sex addiction. Those struggling with sex addiction may preoccupy themselves with sexual urges and fantasies and find it difficult to hold back from acting on these impulses.
Whatever the type of addiction, there are always tell-tale signs to look out for. The inability to stop using the substance or perform the behaviour, withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop, and the burning desire to keep going even when health issues crop up, are clear warning signs that it’s time to begin treating your addiction.
Remember, just as there is no one route to addiction, there is no one route out of it. Of the multiple ways of overcoming addiction, hypnotherapy is an effective tool that focuses on your subconscious mind.
Hypnosis for Addiction – How Hypnotherapy Works for Addiction Recovery
Hypnotherapy is a mind-body therapy that uses hypnosis, a state in which you’ll experience heightened focus and concentration. As an alternative therapy for addiction treatment, hypnotherapy works to identify the underlying cause of the problem and break the cycle of addiction.
As an experienced hypnotherapist, I will encourage you to change the way you think and act in connection with your addiction. I will teach you how to break the vicious cycle of negative thoughts, subconscious beliefs, emotions and behaviours that contribute to your addiction. I will use a blend of hypnotherapy, NLP and coaching in your tailor-made addiction hypnosis programme.
Depending on the type of addiction, I may use one or more of the following techniques in my sessions:
Aversion Therapy
This line of treatment is best used in case of substance addiction. I will help you craft a mental picture of yourself experiencing the adverse consequences of using the substance, like nausea or negative health effects, to create an aversion to the substance itself.
Positive Reinforcement
Under this technique, I will offer suggestions to reinforce the positive aspects of being sober, namely improved health, better energy levels, and healthier relationships.
Habit Reversal
The habit reversal technique is where I attempt to replace the addictive behaviour with a better, healthier alternative. For example, when you find the urge to gamble, you may visualise yourself meditating instead.
Dissociation
Using the dissociation technique in my addiction hypnosis therapy, I will strive to break the emotional hold of the addiction by allowing you to see it in an objective way. Through this process I let you observe a situation and encourage you to have a neutral, or rather, positive perspective.
Trust CityHypno For Addiction Treatment
Accepting your condition and seeking addiction treatment are always the most difficult steps. Overcoming addiction can be a lonely and arduous journey, but you don’t have to walk it alone. With my hypnotherapy sessions, we will work together to reprogramme your mind, strengthen your resilience, and kick the bad habit for good.
Not only that, but I also offer to help you deal with issues like overcoming insomnia, depression, OCD and anxiety. Together, we will work on opening the doors to a better, more fulfilling life.
To explore more of my treatments, reach out to me!
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