Freedom From Addiction: A Hypnotherapist's Guide to Overcoming Addictions and Compulsions

By Jeremy Walker

Founded on what has worked for thousands of people, Jeremy Walker shares what it takes to gain freedom from addiction.

Why am I addicted? Your answer might be something like: addiction is a physical dependence, a series of chemical reactions in the brain, or habitual patterns. Answers like these don't begin to cover the most important

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspire Hypnotherapy
• Release date: Jan 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780648467113

Book preview

First published by Jeremy Walker 2018

Copyright © Jeremy Walker

Edited by Shahana Dukhi

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Freedom From Addiction/ Jeremy Walker

ISBN: (sc) 978-0-6484671-0-6

ISBN: (e) 978-0-6484671-1-3

general – nonfiction

Acknowledgements

I want to acknowledge the people who helped make this book possible for you to read.

To my Mum and Al I know I can depend on your love and support with all I endeavour to achieve.

Brad Flynn you gave me the encouragement needed to begin and persevere with this project. Thank you.

Jarrod L’Estrange I appreciate your continued support for my work. You help me impact more lives with my message.

Karen Mc Dermott for helping me navigate the publishing process. Thank you.

Thank you to my teachers in Hypnotherapy, Addiction Treatment, The Demartini Method and Psychosomatic Therapy. Your wisdom, love and knowledge impact me to this day.

Thank you to the clients who entrust their care to me. Your courage to rise above the toughest challenges inspires.

My fiancé and Editor Shahana Dukhi. You have been by my side the entire time writing. You helped me create the best book I can. Your diligence to produce excellent work is second to none.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Difficulties in Breaking Addictions

My Story: Misadventures on Drugs

The Subconscious Mind

Dealing with Stress

Parent Goals

The Easy Way to Be Disciplined

Food: The Most Complicated Addiction

False Cravings

My Journey to Mastery

Pain and Drugs

Identity: Who You Are

Environment

Addictions as False Security

List of 50 Reasons People Have Compulsions and

Addictions

Addictions Create What You Don't Want

Revealing What You Need

Walker Addictions Removal Process (WARP)

Conclusion

The best way to predict your future, is to create it.

Introduction

I am writing this book as if we are talking with each other face to face. Feel free to receive it in this way. My intention for writing, is to help you be free from your persistent compulsion or addiction. I will show you a path forward, if you have a behaviour you would like to transform.

From the outset, I'm not here to judge your addiction or compulsion, there is enough of that already. In fact, judgement can often reinforce an addiction. People on the outside seem to be taking something away from you, while the addiction seems like the answer.

I have always been interested in addictions and compulsions. It's intrigued me how a person DOES something that they DON'T want to. Is it due to a lack of impulse control? Is it related to self-worth? Is it a force of habit? Does addiction become part of identity? We'll explore all of these fascinating questions together.

Why would you want to be free from addiction? Perhaps your addiction is causing major problems. Your compulsions are impacting your work and finances. It is costing you physically and mentally. It is straining the relationships with people you care about.

I've heard clients say many times, I don't know why I have an addiction. I want to change, but I just go back to it again and again. I feel anxious, like I'm missing something without it. The addiction might make them feel in control temporarily, but really they are out of control.

I remember playing poker machines in my early 20s and money would start to run out. I told myself I would have enough for a good time with friends and get a cab home. That's not what happened though.

I had awareness that I was going to lose, but it's like there was a force, that compelled me to keep playing right down to the last spin, as if on auto pilot. A short time later, I had no money to re-join friends or get a cab. I’d walk home, feeling empty and embarrassed. This experience of creating the results we don't want in life, is what we'll call an inner conflict.

Your compulsion or addiction might be losing $100 to a poker machine each week, burying yourself in debt buying shoes, eating that chocolate dessert every night (even though you said you wouldn't), to secretly drinking through the day to 'function' at work.

There's a part of you that wants to be free from the addiction, however there is a part of you that also wants to keep it. At a fundamental level, there are benefits to stopping the behaviour as well as benefits you get by continuing the behaviour. We are going to place a spotlight on what you get from addiction, so you can see a clearer path to be free from it.

At different times in this book, I'll invite you to turn to page 158. Here you can fill in a table, which will give you insights about your compulsion or addiction. We'll discuss various ideas, then bring them all together with the Walker Addiction Removal Process.

I have put together 4 example addictions, so you can see a path to move forward for each one. There are 2 blank tables you can use for any compulsion or addiction you want to work on. Each chapter will reveal context and deeper meaning to the WARP, used to break addictions.

I will share cases from my clinic showing how transformations take place in a session. All names have been changed to protect people's identity. The stories are accurate, taking into account that small details change with memory. The integrity of the stories are intact.

Many, I work with feel embarrassed and guilty about their addiction. These emotions can blind us in looking for the positive intention behind our behaviour. This is the first idea I will invite you to explore.

Addictions have a positive intention behind them. Rather than judgement, ask, what do I get from that?

I'll often ask clients what they get out of smoking cigarettes, overeating, or drinking alcohol. Most say, Nothing, it’s bad, but within a few minutes we get somewhere between 6-12 different reasons, why they do what they do.

A gentleman I worked with on alcohol reduction had 25 positive things he got out of drinking. Rather than focusing on drinking being bad, we focused on finding alternatives to satisfy what he gets from alcohol. We worked on each component of his drinking habit.

A craving has a need behind it that can be difficult to pinpoint. I have observed in many cases, when habits are substituted correctly, cravings can disappear, or become much more manageable.

You will have a vastly expanded view of addiction by completing the exercises in this book. Once you've done it, you'll be able to apply this learning to any compulsion or addiction you have. You'll be able to see why you do what you do and able to see it in others as well.

Questioning everything is far better than having the perfect answer. Take special notice of something that inspires or challenges you, both will give access to transformation. Write down and explore in the real world any idea that grabs your attention.

The goal of any addiction work, should be to reach the point, where you don't have to use willpower any more to fight it. In my opinion, if you're still craving the old behaviour, you haven't received full service. Therapy is complete, when you no longer have inner conflict.

There is a difference between resisting addiction and being free from it.

Again I'm not saying any particular behaviour is bad; smoking a joint, shopping for your favourite shoes, or eating ice-cream, only you'd want to be in control of that behaviour. We will look at compulsions and addictions in great detail, from my personal experiences and conducting thousands of sessions. We will explore what has worked to be free from addiction.

Difficulties in Breaking Addictions

Whilst assisting in transforming an addiction, one of the first steps I'll take, is to find out why they do what they do. Uncovering this lets me know a number of things. Does the person have awareness of why they have an addiction? Are the reasons simply boredom or something deeper, like trying to escape pain?

Compulsions and addictions are present in your life for a reason. Internal motivators to resist change can be strong and there is a fear of giving it up. Knowing your motivators, gives you power, to move forward.

What people get at a deeper level from their compulsion or addiction, can vastly vary. Rather than pointing