y and intelligently. No
responsible therapist would ever recommend masking or removing a symptom
which was indicative of organic disease. For that reason, the practical
uses of self-hypnosis will be limited to measures that can be taken
safely by the layman. The only possible exception to this will be
instructions on how to curb obesity, but even here it is suggested that
a physician be consulted before embarking on a weight-reducing program.

The foremost use of hypnosis has been for relaxation, and it becomes
more and more important as world tensions, anxiety and strain increase
daily and millions seek vainly to "get away from it all." Inasmuch as
all methods of hypnosis discussed in this book utilized relaxation as
the first step, it should not be necessary to go over this material.
Simply review the many induction techniques.

Lung cancer has become a very real threat to many people today, and the
professional hypnotist is besieged with men and women who wish to
curtail or quit smoking. This is easier said than done because smoking,
although there are no physical withdrawal symptoms when one stops, is a
strong, conditioned reflex and cannot (except in rare instances) be
accomplished by the will alone. The best way to stop smoking is to make
it an impossibility, and that is exactly what you do when you follow the
method touched on in an earlier chapter.

All of us have tasted or smelled certain foods or medicines that
nauseate us. The subject who wishes to quit smoking is asked to conjure
up the vision and the actual taste and smell of the substances which
upset his stomach and offend his nostrils, transferring its properties
to cigarettes. This, of course, must be done under hypnosis. The subject
then conditions himself in the following manner: One ... This cigarette
tastes and smells just like (mention name of repugnant substance). Two
... It is the most vile and repugnant taste I have ever encountered, and
I shall not be able to continue after the third puff. At the third puff,
I will develop a paroxysm of coughing. Three ... I cannot smoke the
cigarette any longer, and I will have to put it out.

This sounds like a simple procedure, and yet it has worked for
thousands. Some switch to chewing gum or candy, but the cure essentially
lies in substituting one conditioned reflex for another. This is
comparatively easy with hypnosis because, unlike narcotics, barbiturates
or alcohol, smoking is purely a psychological