Quit Smoking with EFT Tapping

By Juanita Ecker

There are many types of addictions; coffee, sugar, cigarettes, fingernail biting, alcohol, shopping, sex and drugs are just a few.  We all know people who are addicted to one thing or another. The truth is, addictions are often created out of emotional distress.  The addictive behavior stems from an underlying anxiety that the person needs to pacify.  Something happened in the past that caused emotional distress which then prompted the individual to start the addictive behavior. Over time this addictive behavior becomes a bad habit they cannot stop.

Often when people try to break a bad habit, they fail. The reason for this is they have not dealt with the underlying issue that caused them to start the habit in the first place. EFT tapping can assist in quieting those addictive urges.

In this article we will focus on smoking. Most people who smoke believe they are smokers.  They see smoking not as something they do, but as a part of who they are.  While nicotine addiction is very real, it’s a person’s belief that is more apt to get in the way of changing their behavior. For true recovery, the unresolved emotional issues behind the addiction need to be addressed.

Going cold turkey can be tough. If you are a smoker and have tried to quit you know how difficult it is. Feeling irritable or anxious without the cigarettes to calm you down can be a real challenge.  That is why many smokers quit for a while and then and go back to smoking.

What do the quit smoking sessions look like? I love using the quit smoking procedure by Dr. Carol Look. I tell the client it is not necessary to quit before the first session. The desire to quit will come naturally in the weeks that follow. During the first session we want to uncover the history of your smoking patterns. When did you start smoking and why? Have you tried to quit before? What prompted you to start up again? What is the benefit to quitting? What is the downside to quitting?

These types of questions help us uncover the real reasons behind why you smoke. Some responses I’ve heard include using cigarettes as a reward, to stuff their feelings or to comfort themselves. Everyone has their own personal reasons for smoking. We will tap on your issues that are causing stress, neutralize them and release those negative feelings from your body.

In order to quit smoking, it’s important that we deal with the cravings. We will identify your three favorite times to smoke during the day and have you visualize how much you want it.  For example, you always have a cigarette with your morning coffee or you always have one after dinner. We will tap on those daily habits to release the desire to smoke and create a permanent change in your behavior.

We will explore your current cigarette craving as you are sitting there working with me. I will ask you to take out a cigarette, smell it, take a dry drag and rate your current craving on a 0-10 scale. At zero it is completely gone, at ten it is at its worst.  We will use the EFT tapping to reduce the cravings.

Next, I will have you rate the anxiety or discomfort you are feeling when you think about quitting. We tap on that anxiety. Lastly, I will ask you to picture yourself unable to smoke in a time when you normally do and to rate the deprivation you feel. Once again, we tap on whatever comes up for you.

As you tune in to what you are noticing in your body, those unresolved emotional hurts will start to surface. It might be sadness, grief, fear, loss or discomfort. The list is endless as everyone is unique. We work to get all the negative feelings down to zero for each distressing emotion.

As part of the quit smoking protocol, you will learn how to tap on your own. When you feel the desire to reach for a cigarette, you can tap instead. That way, you have a powerful tool to use to reduce the cravings, calm the nervous system and relieve any stress your body is feeling. Most people find that by paying attention to when they really want to smoke and tapping on their own in between sessions, they are able to successfully quit after four 90-minute sessions.

Want to quit smoking?  With EFT tapping, your cigarette addiction can be slowly reduced and over time completely eliminated.  Take the steps now to “kick the butt habit” and transform your life.

To learn more how EFT Tapping can work for you, contact Juanita at image3@nycap.rr.com to schedule your free 20 minute strategy session.