Last month, a bloke named Trent contacted my clinic. His message was five lines long. The gist: he’d tried hypnotherapy somewhere else, it worked for three months, and then he was back on the smokes. He wanted to give it another go. I appreciated his honesty. But what struck me was what he didn’t say – he didn’t mention the patches he’d tried before that. Or the gum. Or the two rounds of Champix that made him nauseous and gave him nightmares. Trent had been through the full menu of quit smoking methods. And he was still smoking.
I hear stories like Trent’s every week in my East Corrimal clinic. People don’t usually come to me first. They come to me last. After everything else has been tried, failed, and left them feeling like maybe they’re just one of those people who can’t quit.
They can. But only if they stop treating the symptom and start addressing the cause. Let me walk you through every major quit smoking method available in Australia right now – what actually works, what doesn’t, and what nobody tells you about each one. No spin. Just what I’ve observed over 15 years of helping people quit.
The method everyone tries first: cold turkey
Let’s start with the one that costs nothing and requires zero preparation. Cold turkey. You wake up one morning, announce “I’m done,” and muscle through the withdrawal.
Here’s the reality. The success rate for cold turkey is roughly 3 to 5 per cent at the 12-month mark. That’s not my opinion – that’s what the research consistently shows. Ninety-five out of a hundred people who quit cold turkey are smoking again within a year.
Why? Because willpower is a finite resource. Your conscious mind can say “no” for a day, a week, maybe even a month. But your subconscious mind – the part that’s been running the smoking program on repeat for 10, 20, 30 years – hasn’t changed. It’s still sending the same signals. And the moment you hit a stressor – a fight with your partner, a rough week at work, a few drinks at the pub – the subconscious overrides the conscious. You’re back to square one.
Cold turkey is brave. But bravery without the right tools is just suffering with extra steps.
Nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges: managing the addiction without ending it
Nicotine Replacement Therapy – NRT – is the most widely recommended approach in Australia. Your GP can prescribe it, some forms are available over the counter, and it’s subsidised under the PBS. Patches deliver a steady low dose of nicotine through your skin. Gum and lozenges give you a quick hit when cravings spike.
The logic makes sense on paper: wean your body off nicotine gradually rather than quitting abruptly. The problem is that the logic ignores half the equation.
Nicotine patches have a success rate of roughly 10 to 20 per cent at 12 months. Combining them with gum or lozenges pushes that to maybe 25 per cent. Better than cold turkey, sure. But you’re still looking at three out of four people relapsing within a year.
And here’s the thing nobody talks about: NRT doesn’t address why you smoke. It addresses what your body craves. But smoking isn’t just a chemical addiction. It’s a behavioural pattern, an emotional coping mechanism, a habit woven into the fabric of your daily routine. Patches can’t unpick the association between your morning coffee and reaching for a smoke. They can’t stop the reflex when your boss sends a frustrating email. They can’t change the fact that your subconscious believes smoking helps you cope with stress.
And let’s be honest about something else: you’re still putting nicotine into your body. As one of my clients put it, “It’s like trying to quit drinking by switching to low-alcohol beer.” The dependency doesn’t end. It just gets managed. Sometimes indefinitely. I’ve met people who’ve been on patches for years.
Champix (varenicline): the pharmaceutical approach
Champix was the gold standard pharmaceutical option in Australia for a long time. It works by partially activating the nicotine receptors in your brain, reducing cravings and blocking the rewarding sensation you get from smoking. A 12-week course costs around $120 with a Medicare card.
The clinical data for Champix is genuinely strong. In controlled trials, it outperforms NRT and has shown quit rates of around 25 to 35 per cent at 12 months. It’s a legitimate medical intervention and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But. There’s always a but.
The side effects are real. Nausea is common – sometimes severe enough that people stop taking it. Vivid dreams and nightmares come up frequently. The US FDA previously issued warnings about neuropsychiatric risks, though more recent evidence has been more reassuring. It requires a doctor’s prescription and monitoring throughout the course. And there’s been a global supply shortage since 2023 that’s made it difficult to access in Australia.
The bigger issue, from my perspective, is the same one that limits NRT: Champix tackles the chemical dimension of addiction brilliantly. But when the 12-week course ends, you’re left with the same subconscious patterns, the same triggers, the same emotional associations with smoking. If the psychological architecture of the habit hasn’t changed, the risk of relapse is always lurking.
Vaping: the method Australia is actively restricting
I wrote about this recently in detail, but it’s worth covering here because I still get asked about it almost daily.
Since July 2024, all non-therapeutic vapes have been banned from general retail sale in Australia. Disposable vapes are completely prohibited. As of July 2025, therapeutic vapes can only be purchased through pharmacies, must meet strict TGA product standards, and are designed specifically for people quitting smoking. And just last month – July 2026 – nicotine pouches were banned from unapproved therapeutic access pathways as well. The government campaign Give up for good is actively running, and the AIHW data released in July shows daily smoking at a historic low of 5.6 per cent nationally.
So what does this mean for someone trying to quit using vaping? In short: the landscape is shrinking. You’re swapping one nicotine delivery system for another, the product range is narrowing, and the TGA itself states that vapes are not recommended as a first-line treatment for smoking cessation.
For the full picture on vaping and hypnotherapy, read my detailed vaping piece here.
Clinical hypnotherapy: why I believe it’s different (and what the evidence says)
I’m obviously not a neutral party here. I’m a clinical hypnotherapist. I’ve spent 15 years doing this work. But I got into this work because of what I saw it do for people – not the other way around. So let me lay out the case as fairly as I can.
A meta-analysis from the University of Iowa found hypnosis to be approximately three times more effective than nicotine patches and up to 15 times more effective than willpower alone. A 2014 study of 164 hospitalised patients showed hypnotherapy outperforming NRT at the 26-week follow-up. A randomised controlled trial at the San Francisco VA Medical Centre found that among participants with a history of depression – a group that typically finds quitting hardest – hypnotherapy produced significantly higher quit rates than standard behavioural counselling.
Now, the Cochrane Collaboration – which does the most rigorous systematic reviews – notes that while hypnotherapy shows promise, the evidence base needs more large-scale trials. That’s fair. It’s also true of most complementary therapies, because there’s no pharmaceutical company funding million-dollar clinical trials for a method that doesn’t involve selling a product.
What makes clinical hypnotherapy fundamentally different from every other method on this list is what it targets. Patches target nicotine levels. Champix targets brain receptors. Cold turkey targets willpower. Hypnotherapy targets the subconscious patterns that drive the behaviour in the first place.
Your smoking habit lives in your subconscious. That’s why you can consciously want to quit with every fibre of your being and still find yourself lighting up at 6am on a cold winter morning. The advanced clinical hypnosis and NLP techniques I use work directly with that subconscious programming. We don’t fight the habit. We reprogram it.
But not all hypnotherapy is the same
And this is where Trent’s story becomes relevant again. He’d tried hypnotherapy elsewhere and it lasted three months. That tells me he likely had basic suggestion hypnosis – the kind where someone relaxes you and repeats “you don’t want to smoke” for 30 minutes. Success rate for that? Around 30 to 40 per cent. Not terrible. But not good enough.
What I do at Quit Smoking 4Good combines advanced clinical hypnosis with Neuro-Linguistic Programming, tailored to each person’s specific triggers, history, and emotional patterns. Plus the practical life tools that help you handle stress, cravings, and trigger situations without reaching for a cigarette. And the lifetime support guarantee – if it doesn’t stick, you come back. Free. No questions.
That guarantee isn’t marketing. It’s confidence. If my approach didn’t work at the rates it does, I’d have gone bankrupt years ago offering unlimited free follow-ups.
So which method should you choose?
Here’s my honest view, setting aside the fact that I practise one of these methods.
If you’ve never tried to quit before and you want to start with the simplest, lowest-cost option – talk to your GP about NRT. It’s accessible, it’s subsidised, and for a small percentage of people, it’s enough. Your GP may also discuss Champix if it’s available and appropriate for you.
If you’ve already tried NRT, or Champix, or cold turkey, or vaping – and you’re still smoking – then the problem isn’t chemical. The problem is psychological. And that’s where clinical hypnotherapy earns its place. Not as a first-resort gimmick, but as a genuine clinical intervention for people who’ve discovered that managing nicotine levels alone isn’t enough.
That’s most of the people who walk through my door. They’ve tried everything. They’re not gullible. They’re not desperate. They’re actually the most motivated people I meet – because they’ve already proven, through multiple attempts, that they want to quit. They just need a method that works with their brain instead of against it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most effective way to quit smoking in Australia?
The most effective approach depends on the individual. For people who haven’t tried other methods, NRT or prescription medications are a reasonable starting point. For those who’ve tried and failed with other methods, clinical hypnotherapy addresses the psychological patterns behind smoking and has been shown in multiple studies to outperform NRT. A combination of approaches often yields the best results.
How does hypnotherapy compare to nicotine patches for quitting smoking?
A meta-analysis from the University of Iowa found hypnosis to be approximately three times more effective than nicotine patches. The key difference is that patches address chemical nicotine withdrawal, while hypnotherapy addresses the subconscious behavioural and emotional patterns that drive smoking. Patches manage the addiction; hypnotherapy aims to resolve it.
Is Champix still available in Australia in 2026?
Champix (varenicline) has experienced supply disruptions in Australia since 2023. Availability varies. Speak to your GP about current access. If Champix is unavailable or unsuitable due to side effects, clinical hypnotherapy is an evidence-informed alternative that doesn’t require medication.
Can you combine hypnotherapy with nicotine patches?
Yes. Some people find it helpful to use NRT for immediate chemical withdrawal relief while using hypnotherapy to address the psychological dimension. Discuss any combined approach with your GP. At Quit Smoking 4Good, the session is designed to eliminate cravings at the subconscious level, so many clients find they don’t need NRT at all after their session.
What’s the success rate of quit smoking hypnotherapy?
Success rates vary significantly depending on technique and practitioner. Basic suggestion hypnosis achieves around 30–40 per cent. Advanced clinical hypnotherapy combined with NLP, as practised at Quit Smoking 4Good, achieves significantly higher rates. Individual results depend on the client’s genuine readiness to quit and engagement with the process.
The question isn’t which method is best. It’s which method is right for you.
If you’ve read this far, you’re not casually curious. You’re someone who’s genuinely trying to find the right path to becoming a non-smoker. Maybe you’re like Trent – you’ve been around the block and you’re ready to try the method that actually addresses why you smoke, not just what you smoke.
Give me a call on 0408 880 606. Or book online. We’ll have a conversation. If I think hypnotherapy is right for your situation, I’ll tell you. If I don’t, I’ll tell you that too. Nothing matters more to me than your success.
➤ Ready to try the method that works with your brain, not against it? Call Michael on 0408 880 606 or book your session online.
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