My story: I went to Sera to quit smoking, and I am so glad I did. I had been smoking 1/2-1…read morepack/day for over 7 years, and had been a social smoker for well over 10 years. I had tried to quit a number of times, and made it through stints of 1 week to 3 months, but always fell back into the habit.
As of today, I have not had a single cigarette since my appointment over 5 months ago, and I don't think I ever will. I am constantly around smokers, including my boyfriend, and I am simply not interested. It is the BEST feeling EVER.
About the session: As noted in other reviews, the first half of the session is just a straightforward conversation with Sera. She is incredibly warm and welcoming, making it easy to talk to her. She is also incredibly smart and informed--and practical. Something that will forever stand out about my sessions with her is when she said, "you already know smoking is bad for you, and if that were enough, you would have quit by now." And she was right, we all know the harms of smoking, and yet, so many of us can't let go. She and I discussed psychological/emotional and chemical/scientific reasons one might smoke--and it was so informative and helpful it completely changed my view on the whole quitting process generally. Full disclosure, I am not sure if it was the hypnosis that made me quit, or this conversation, because the knowledge she dropped on me was amazing and just changed my whole outlook. If nothing else, this initial discussion truly empowered me to conquer cravings and change habits to not only quit, but stay strong against temptation.
The second half of the session was the "hypnosis," which was... interesting.. it was relaxing and less weird than I expected... but, it was weird... half of what she was saying made sense, the other half didn't. Either way, I felt at ease and THINK I was awake and zoned in the whole time. And, no, there was not some thing waved in front of my face and she did not snap her fingers and say, "SLEEP"--it was a very natural transition from discussion to hypnosis and it was really just me listening while she talked.
The effect: I threw out my pack of cigs on my walk home from my session that night, and have not had a cigarette since. NOTE, just because the session was successful/helpful/impactful, I STILL GOT CRAVINGS afterwards, but I reacted and processed those cravings in a whole new way and did not once get close to caving. The cravings are now long-gone, and I have been around cigarettes a number of times and had no issues.
Overall view: If you smoke and want to quit but can't: go. At the end of the day, whether it is a complete placebo effect in your head or it truly works some sort of magic on you, it doesn't matter, what matters is, it works. Sera empowered me, she taught me, and she helped me change my life. When I made the appointment everyone around me was skeptical and critical and told me it was a waste of time and money, but those people are eating their words now because they cannot believe that I have stopped completely. It is an expensive session, I know, but if it can save years of your life, it is worth it.
