Dubbo hypnotherapist Coral Macrae is encouraging residents trying to quit smoking after World No Tobacco Day last Friday, to consider trying hypnotherapy.
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Ms Macrae has been doing hypnosis in Dubbo since 2005 and has helped thousands of people to quit smoking.
"Hypnosis can reprogram the brain and replace old patterns with new ones," Ms Macrae said.
"One client who quit [smoking] two years ago told me she had saved $6,800 in the first year of being smoke-free.
"She was able to take her family on a cruise then, and according to her, it was the best thing she had ever done."
Ms Macrae said many people try giving up 'cold turkey' first, or by patches, gum, and medication, but most fall back into their bad habit due to a triggered emotion.
"Hypnosis uncovers the cause of the issue and releases the triggers, so there is no longer a pattern," she said.
"Hypnotherapy uses the whole mind to make changes, rather than just the conscious mind, which uses only 5-10 per cent. The subconscious uses about 90-95 per cent of the brain and is also the domain of habits, patterns and anything with an emotional base.
"When you tap into the subconscious mind as well as the conscious mind, you get congruence, and you can get permanent change."
Ms Macrae said the first seven years of your life you're in the 'imprint period', which is a similar brain wave pattern to hypnosis, meaning we are easily imprinted on and this is where our core beliefs are formed.
"After that first seven years, the critical faculty is formed as the conscious mind is developing and becoming stronger," she said.
"The critical faculty is like a gateway between the conscious and unconscious mind which determines what is accepted by the subconscious mind to be true, as we grow older we are in and out of this hypnotic alpha-theta state every day. Hypnosis is the natural state you're in when you're driving down the highway, and you lose track of time or any fully absorbed state of focussed concentration."