Stop Smoking: the Red Box technique

Hypnotherapy is a very effective treatment for someone who wants to stop smoking.

Why?

Because unlike other treatments that only scratch the surface of a tobacco addiction, hypnotherapy gets to the root of the problem. Through the use of direct suggestion, smokers can replace their old tobacco-related habits with newer habits that promote health, happiness and well-being. Through the use of regression and other techniques, smokers can also uncover the underlying reasons behind their tobacco addiction and thereby heal them.

But what if the smoker has been smoking a long time? How long do the positive effects of hypnosis last? What prevents smokers from returning to their old health-destroying habits?

Enter the “Red Box” technique.

The Red Box technique is a powerful and proven therapy based on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). After entering into a hypnotic trance, the client looks ahead into his or her future and imagines all the bad things that will happen if he/she continues to smoke. The client is then asked to “internalize” each of those bad outcomes one at a time. In this way, the client “feels” all the bad emotions that come from a life-long smoking habit: weakness, fear, low self-esteem, even sickness and death. The client then “pours” those bad feelings into an imaginary red box on the floor.

The client is then asked to look ahead into his or her future but, this time, imagining all the good things that will happen if he/she quits smoking: strength, confidence, happiness, good health and a long life. The client is again asked to “internalize” each of these good feelings and pour them into an imaginary blue circle on the floor.

Next, the client is asked to stand between the red box and the blue circle. The client first places a foot in the red box, thus reliving all the bad feelings that result from that choice. The client next places the other foot in the blue circle, thus reliving all the good feelings that come from that choice.

After repeating this exercise several times, the client learns to prefer stepping into the blue circle rather than the red box—new more positive habits are thusly remembered and the old smoking-related habits are forgotten.

In this way, clients can make a better choice if they are ever tempted to pick up a cigarette again.

Thomas C. Williams

Clinical Hypnotherapist

Copyright © 2018 by Thomas C. Williams