I have just found a brilliant website, http://kenwarren.com.au, recommended by the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council - www.general-hypnotherapy-register.com. Ken Warren's site is full of interesting and helpful information for therapists setting up in practice and has given me new inspiration and determination to succeed! Havng leafleted a whole estate about losing weight and stopping smoking earlier this month, I was feeling quite despondent at the lack of response. Looking at Ken's material I'm all fired up and full of ideas again! Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say.

Off to put new efforts into getting myself out there. And if you want to lose weight, stop smoking, feel more relaxed or say good bye to depression, then visit my website, www.mindtochange.co.uk or, better still, give me a call.

Well here we are at the start of a new year and everyone will have promised themselves they will lose weight, stop smoking and do the one hundred other things they promise themselves they’ll do every year – and a month later will all be out the window!! Unless, of course, they have sought the help and support of a hypnotherapist! www.mindtochange.co.uk

The 2007 Health Bill will completely ban smoking in most public spaces and workplaces and includes outlawing the provision of smoking areas at work. There will be very limited exceptions to the ban, notably private homes, residential care homes, hotel rooms, prisons and hospitals. Employers may provide an outdoor area for smokers but there is no legal obligation on them to do so.

This smoke-free legislation is being introduced because tobacco smoke is now recognised to be the single greatest preventable risk to health. It causes 30% or all cancer deaths, 84% of lung cancer deaths, 17% of deaths from heart disease and 80% of deaths from bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths in Britain each year.

Smoking can also seriously affect business productivity. A smoker may take up to 6 ten minute breaks per day, resulting in the loss of one hour a day or 5 hours in a week. Non smokers may resent the fact that smokers are taking more breaks and begin to take more or longer breaks themselves, thus damaging both productivity and staff morale in a company. Staff who are exposed to smoke, whether they be smokers or non smokers, are likely to be ill more often and may also take longer to recover.

However, the introduction of this anti smoking legislation may be just the incentive some people need to encourage them to give up smoking and hypnotherapy can help.

The majority of smokers start smoking when they are young and before long it becomes an addictive habit. As with any habit, it is difficult to break through willpower alone because it becomes an integral part of who you are. You rely on cigarettes in certain situations or associate them with certain friends or activities. Once this habit is established, it is no longer within conscious control. Non smokers don’t crave or even think about cigarettes because they just are not in their mind set.

Hypnotherapy is designed to take away the desire to smoke. Instead of feeling they are giving up something they enjoy, people feel they are getting rid of something they don’t want – a much more positive idea.

Hypnotherapy has a high success rate with smoking cessation and stopping smoking is one of the most common reasons why people consult a hypnotherapist. Clients are encouraged not to dwell on the negative aspects of smoking, but to aim for positive outcomes such as fitness, freedom, energy and good health!

So, if you want to help yourself, friends or family to stop smoking or, indeed, to stick to other New Year’s resolutions this time round, then contact me by email: jose@mindtochange.co.uk