complain, and they whine, and they tell me that it's not possible, and all that kind of self defeating nonsense.  But, that is just hypnosis they have done on themselves, and they are trying to do it to me.  It doesn't work.  I am the hypnotist.  I do the hypnotizing, not the client.  At least, I hope so.  So, I think of the research as interesting.  It may have some validity and value, but it's not really all that important when it comes to me sitting down with a client.

Q. Very interesting point you raised.  In that case, do you feel that there is a common denominator in both substance addiction such as nicotine, drugs and alcohol, and non-substance addiction such as sexual and gambling?

A. Well, I see everybody as an individual.  I have never seen anybody who is an addict as part of a group of addicts.  I just see individuals.  Yes, if you take somebody who is abusing alcohol and compare them with other alcohol abusers, there are going to be some common characteristics about which one can generalize, and the same would hold true with heroin users and smokers.  Of all the so-called addictions  (I dislike even using the word because it is so broadly applied) tobacco is the one with which I have the greatest familiarity.  What I have found is that there is a fair amount of variation in terms of people's experiences of tobacco use, although there are some generalities that one could usefully consider. We can get into that if you want.  Most of the generalities have to do with attitudes and beliefs that smokers share about nicotine, and at some point as we go along I will talk about how I differentiate nicotine from the other substances. 

In terms of carbohydrate, food addictions, sex, gambling, these things cannot be true addictions - not by the disease model anyway.  What you've got are people who may have chemical balances that cause them to have predispositions towards certain kinds of compulsive behaviors.  I don't think of chemistry in these cases as primary.  I think of the chemical imbalances as secondary, as a result of the way their mind is processing things.  For purposes of hypnosis, that is a good way to think of it.  Just reverse the normal thinking process for the medical and psychological establishment and see what happens.  Maybe Next page