Nicabate, Quitline deter smokers from hypnotherapy despite its effectiveness, says Melbourne hypnotist.

Julia Lorent, owner and principal practitioner from the Melbourne Quit Smoking Clinic, treats tobacco and alcohol addiction with hypnotherapy. Despite conflicting research made by Sydney University, GlaxoSmithKline-owned Nicabate and Niquitin advertise the harshness of cold turkey quitting methods and hypnotherapy.
Julia says Quitline tells callers not to try hypnosis and to try nicotine replacement instead. The 2010 ad campaign she refers to says, “…the receptor-beasts in your brain will put up a fight if they don’t get their hit of nicotine.”
“Nicabate tell you that there’s little men in there and that it’s really hard to quit. It’s not. Smokers quit all the time.”
Research published by the Journal of Applied Psychology in 1992 shows hypnosis to have the highest success rate of smoking cessation methods studied.
Hypnosis showed a 30 percent success rate compared to nicotine gum, 10 percent.
Side effects vary between hypnotherapy and nicotine replacement products. Hypnotherapy in some cases causing dizziness, headache, feelings of anxiety, stomach upset and false memories. Nicotine replacement is known for sometimes causing dizziness, skin irritation, racing heartbeat, headaches, nausea, sleep disturbances, muscle aches r stiffness, mouth sores and bad taste.
Hypnosis has suffered from stigma on its legitimacy, says Julia.
“A lot of that will come from religion, from the Catholic Church. There’s no voodoo about it.”
“Nothing is secret about it, it’s a really old thing. Nobody can control your mind if it’s not within your own ethics and morals. We just change your mind, we change a habit.”
On British American Tobacco’s recent request for documents containing research on children’s attitudes towards smoking, Julia says, “They’re a business and their business is cigarettes.”
“They’re in business to make money. They have shareholders, and they are going to try everything they can.”
Terminally ill smokers also come to Julia. A mother and son came in for counselling, the mother for hypnosis.
“This woman’s seven-year-old wouldn’t talk to her. Her son kept saying to her, ‘You’re leaving us, why did you do it? You’re abandoning us, you don’t love us.”
Julia managed to reconcile the pair before the mother passed away three months later.
Her advice is that people will always smoke, and that’s their choice. Although, smokers should be aware of what they are doing.
“You have every right to smoke, but if you’re going to do it, be aware. We really take our health for granted, it’s an eye-opener seeing what people do to their bodies.”
“I’m no evangelist with smoking, but they [smokers] should be aware of what it does.”
Julia is also a counsellor, helping people with social aspects of smoking, including the link between alcohol and cigarettes common among young people.
“Most people will start smoking to fit in because it’s cool, it’s a bit naughty.”
“The main reason that people start smoking is their friends are doing it… I have had clients that are 18… I specialise in smoking, but smoking and alcohol go hand-in-hand…”
