Stop Smoking Pages

If the advertisements I see in the newspapers are anything to go by, the proponents of neurolinguistic programming, or NLP, make some pretty fantastic claims on its behalf. They claim that one session will make you smoke free for life, and they charge a pretty hefty fee too – one ad in my local paper offered NLP to stop you smoking forever for a one-off fee of £200 (about $400). So let’s examine the claims.

For starters, what exactly is NLP? Well, NLP is an alternative approach to psychotherapy based on the subjective study of language, communication and personal change, particularly in relation to being successful at things, with an emphasis upon how to change your life.

NLP came to prominence in the early 1980’s when it was heralded as an important advance in psychotherapy and counseling, but by the mid 1980’s it started to fall out of favour, as it was suggested that there was little evidence that it worked. So it still seems to be an unproven treatment. The models and tools of NLP have been used widely outside of psychotherapy in business communication, management training, teaching, executive coaching and motivational seminars.

My advice is, try it by all means, but only if the fee seems like a reasonable amount for the time offered. Don’t accept that one session will stop you smoking forever – chances are it won’t. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it will take time to wean yourself off nicotine.

Ask yourself this – is the NLP practitioner offering you any more than you can get from books, support groups, your doctor, and nicotine patches? If all you are being offered is a wild promise, hold onto your cash and spend it on some form of nicotine replacement. If, on the other hand, the fee seems reasonable, give it a go and then decide whether it seems like good value for money, and whether it is worth continuing with this method or not.

Filed under: Ways to Quit