Habits and Addictions

 

 
Whether it be alcohol, medication, cigarettes, illegal substances or any one of the dozens of behaviours that we can become addicted to, anything to excess can be an unhealthy thing.  However it might have started, many people find that, over time, they need to engage more and more in the behaviour to get satisfaction – and even then the pleasure that they seem to remember they once got from their addiction is never really as good as it used to be.
 
You may be becoming increasingly aware of all the negative effects your addiction is having on your life. But isn’t it strange that you know smoking has a good chance of leading to a life threatening disease, and that drugs are destroying your career and that your gambling addiction is destroying your relationship – yet knowing these things doesn’t seem to be enough to give you the motivation to quit?   
 
For many people, addictions can be more than just a habit or a physical dependence.  Often there is an underlying emotional connection, which whilst left unaddressed can make changing the harmful behaviour difficult.  Addiction is not rational, it’s emotional – so it would make sense that the escape from addiction also lies in your emotions. Emotion can give the energy needed for a behaviour change because when a behaviour change has strong emotions behind it, driving it, it has the power to stick. 
 
Have you reached the point where you are ready to overcome your addiction? With real honesty, stand back and look at the expectations you have of your addiction. What is it you think you get from it? What do you actually get from it? Is there more pain than pleasure? This honesty can help reveal the illusion of addiction and emotions such as disgust, shame, guilt and fear about the addiction can be a powerful motivator for change. Add to that a focus on what you will gain from beating it and you can feed hope, happiness, confidence and strength.
 
Using Cognitive Hypnotherapy and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), I have helped people overcome addictive behaviour. By teaching you techniques from NLP, I can show you how to deal with any cravings and to change habits. Using Cognitive Hypnotherapy, we can identify and work together to resolve any underlying emotional connections you may have to the habit.  People are often surprised at the positive effects they experience in other areas of their lives as a result of resolving such core emotional issues.
 
Whilst treatment is not a replacement for willpower and commitment to change, it can help strengthen it, and by putting you in control of how you want to be means that you can be free of the habit more quickly and easily than you might once have thought possible.
 
So, when you are ready to make these changes in your life, feel free to contact me to discuss how I can help you achieve what you want.
 

 

Cognitive Hypnotherapy Milton Keynes