One does not need to be aware of this golden box idea, one needs to know how change occurs in the brain and how it's maintained. When it comes to change, people need to value the alternative way of behaving. I don't mean value in a linguistic sense, "I value (x)" I'm talking about demonstrated value. So for example, this individual mentioned that he is still smoking. So obviously he values smoking over not smoking. You can't just take a behavior away from someone and pretend it'll all be better. You need to replace that behavior with a more constructive behavior that will include a backslide strategy for when they fall off track. They need to have a pattern built up that says, "When I go off track, I need to get RIGHT back on track IMMEDIATELY" That's a motivational and practice issue.

In the brain, the behavior this person has engaged in is wired up. . . tight! It's been that way for years and you're expecting they just drop that and all the neurochemistry will go back to before they smoked just because of one hypnosis session? A lot of people think like that and yes some people can do that if it's done properly but in the end . . . it's a pipedream to think that'll happen with everyone. It depends on how you built up the motivation, the backslide strategy, the demonstrated value of the new behavior, the congruence of the new behavior with other areas of the individuals life and how the individual will handle this change in terms of family and friends. Family and friends have a tendency of "testing" the new change a member makes. "You quit smoking? You sure? (blows smoke in face) Remember when you broke up with Lisa and felt so calm when you chain smoked with me under the bridge by our house? " All that stuff is GOING to happen and one should really prepare their client for that behavior so the change isn't undone.

It's not just about giving someone direct suggestions to quit smoking. There's many aspects to consider and people fail when they don't consider them or think "it's too much" Let me say this: When it comes to helping other people better their lives, there's no such thing as too much. It is your responsibility (if you decided to take it) to make sure this person makes the change as quickly and safely as possible. Some people are motivated in different ways. Some are motivated about the positive end result of a change. Others wont take action unless their threatened with death. Others focus on the negative consequences if they DONT take action. You need to find out how the individual standing in front of you is motivated. By the way, asking them "How are you motivated" Is a silly way to go about it. Start inquiring about othe changes they've made easily and spontaneously and take it from there. Remember, don't try to make someone become motivated in the way YOU think they should be motivated. That will fail. YOu need to find out how one is ALREADY motivated themselves. And they'll probably be clueless consciously. That's why you need to find out through asking how they've motivated themselves in other areas of their life.

I've helped my dad quit smoking. But that's a long story lol

Look, taking a step back from all of this and looking at the big picture. I have learned from many different people as I progressed through hypnosis training. I have had arguments with people who have threatened the credibility of the person I was learning from at the time. Who the hell were they? Obviously my teacher had credibility or he wouldn't be getting the results he was getting. In fact, he wouldn't be so well known as a good teacher if he wasnt skilled. He is making money, getting the results and has a theory that makes sense to me. That's all I needed. So I totally get where you're coming from and how my opinion on the matter may seem rather harsh. But realize it's not towards you. It's directed at this concept that has infected the hypnosis circle. That of the unconscious mind. After years of training and more importantly, years of applied practice. I've realized how much of the things I was taught by a certain teacher was false. Completely and utterly wrong and could not be validated without presupposing things that didn't exist. In short, my teacher was actually very ill informed and was working similar to a mystical healer. Hey, they get results too right? Belief is a very powerful thing. But giving suggestions, which are just words being spoken at someone and thinking they will do anything whatsoever automatically is just naive. It's like saying, all I have to do is go up to a cashier at a store and say, "You're unconscious mind will give me all the money and then believe this never happened" Of course that wouldn't work. "Well the cashier wasn't in trance" Ok now we're making stuff up at this point. Suggestion work only as well as they are accepted. Ideomotor signaling is all well and good but at the end of the day, it fails credibility. You're talking to something that doesn't exist so you can't possibly get results unless the person you're speaking with fully believes in what you're saying. In other words, it has to have a feeling of weight, of substance to the person otherwise it won't have any affect. SO I started looking towards other teachers. Basically the same pattern occurred. Until I reached the man whom I'm learned from currently. I'm never done learning. He has been in the field for over 25 years and has stripped hypnosis away down to its fundamental observable parts. He's taken new scientific research and has taught me how to apply it in hypnosis. What is hypnosis? What is the unconscious mind? There is none.

I don't meant to sound argumentative but there is no such thing as an unconscious or subconscious mind. It's a way of talking about stuff. You can't cut the brain open and point to the unconscious mind. So I would suggest that you are indeed not aware of the brain works with change or how change occurs in human beings. I would suggest that this person as well is not aware of these things. There's been recent work in Priming by JOhn Bargh. I would recommend researching that because that's as close to unconscious as it gets scientifically. All that other nonsense in hypnosis courses is just perpetuating an entity that doesn't exist. You can't communicate with the unconscious mind because no such things exists in reality. It's a concept. It's like talking to Santa or the Easter Bunny. They're only real in the minds of the people. Not actual things. You can't just say "Now you're a nonsmoker" and poof! It just doesn't happen. YOu're implying amnesia for ever having been a smoker I get that. But just because you say some words you call a "suggestion" doesn't mean that it changes the neurochemistry of the person's habits through years of constant repetition and practice. This is the thinking that's holding hypnosis back and why most people won't consider it as a practical tool for mental or physical health.

There is no line between conscious and unconscious. These are subjective things. What one person may not be conscious of, another may be very conscious of. So it's not a black and white line. We each have different levels of awareness. It's more of a color spectrum. How one color fades. . . blends. .. mixes with the other. That's how consciousness is. So you may THINK you are aware of how our brain chemistry works, how change occurs in the brain neurologically, how someone deals with withdrawal (because all the good intentions in the world won't stop it. It's how our body operates. Extreme changes take time otherwise our body would be under so much stress we would get sick. Look it up.) However, the extent to which someone is consciously aware of these changes and physically feels them is different. Because pain is also very subjective. Physical sensation is subjective. So one may go through withdrawal with relative comfort. Not complete, but relative. So it's not unbearable. But it will occur just like venom will course through your veins if bitten by a snake. You can't stop that part. You can adjust the comfort level though. The cravings will still exist unless what I wrote above occurs. You need a way of dealing with backsliding, you need to create a powerful experience so you rewire behavioral value and you need to give a person something else instead of (x) behavior. I don't need to know this guy's particular way of doing it because the brain works in a fundamental way. If you go against that, it will create issues.

I've spent a lot of time studying people who change automatically and spontaneously. They've always included the above topics. If you really want to help people then consider the possibly that you and this teacher may have it wrong. You owe it to the people you plan to work with. It's your responsibility to take care of your clients and to make damn sure you have it right every step of the way. I've been very wrong at times and I've learned from it. And I've learned some different things from what you're being told. So I emphatically suggest doing the gritty research work that no one wants to actually do so you can become better at what you want and have your client's care in mind at all times. Say you have it wrong. Say this guy has it wrong. And say you're so fixed in this idea that you actually try helping people using these ideas and it fails. . . again. Then again . . . Then again . . . . Until you've now damaged the confidence of the people who trust you can help them and now are even more skeptical of hypnosis from when they first came in. Now they're taking medications, relapsing left and right, sees a doctor and is told he has a personality disorder which is what started the smoking to being with. Is taking even MORE pills and becomes depressed and suffers all the side effects from pharmacology and is now suicidal. Look, this isn't an example to paint a clear picture of my point. This is what happens every single damn day to people. This story of the story of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world and it's your responsibility to make sure they are taken care of the first time.

You mentioned that this technique didn't work for you. You don't even know the outcome of the session. SO WHY ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING AT ALL? If you don't know how to test your work, if what you're doing isn't working and if what you do requires you speak to something that doesn't exist then my god! Something has to change sir. Don't be lured in by infinite promise. Do the hard work and start researching how people just stop doing things. Interview people who have done it. "Hey I want to ask you a couple questions about how you just stopped smoking instantly and haven't smoked since. What made you stop? Can you take me through what happened step by step so I really understand?" And start taking notes. LOTS of notes.

Take care and stay well!