Being a top-level athlete requires much more than just excellent physical condition. Mental preparation plays a crucial role in the athletic achievement, enabling athletes to become active and autonomous in their personal development, gain greater self-awareness, and acquire practical tools for managing their mental state. Derived from neuroscience techniques, this method offers athletes a way to unlock their full potential and effectively manage stress and emotions.
Management stress and anxiety related to smoking cessation is an important issue for people who want to quit smoking. Mental coaches can help smokers develop stress management techniques to help them surmonter les envies and the desiresBy changing the way they manage these critical moments, smokers can find a way to reduce the negative emotions associated with withdrawal and increase their chances of success.
One of the main methods used by Jean-Damien Dehoux, tobacco specialist and mental coach for athletes, is mental imagery.
This cognitive technique is the ability to imagine a movement or task mentally, without physically performing it. The brain makes little distinction between imagination and reality, and considers a mentally simulated action to be real.
The pilots of the Patrouille de France are experts in mental imagery, which they practice before each flight to help them memorize a trajectory. By mentally perfecting a movement, it is easier to put it into action, which builds driver confidence during the flight. This way, mental imagery provides tools for better management of emotions and a reduction in stress.
Generally speaking, when an athlete is stressed about a competition, they are likely to focus on one or more inappropriate ideas the smooth running of their performance: visualizing a bad movement, seeing themselves fail, etc.
If we make a parallel with smoking cessation, many smokers experience negative thoughts as soon as they quit smoking: “I'll go crazy if I don't smoke,” “I'm afraid of suffering from nicotine withdrawal,” “I won't be able to do it,” etc. Many smokers dread the idea of quitting smoking and fear having to quit again. Many smokers worry that they will no longer be able to cope with stressful situations after quitting smoking.
The mental imagery in the context of smoking cessation helps to dispel negative thoughts by focusing on the sensory perception of the human body. Let's take the example of Jean-Damien Dehoux:
"Take control and focus your attention on a tingling sensation in your hands. Direct your attention to your hands. Visualize them and try to feel a tingling sensation in your palms and fingers. By focusing on this sensation, you will feel the blood flowing. This information will distract you from the urge to smoke. Repeat this exercise every time you feel the urge to smoke. The more you practice, the more natural and effective this technique will become in diverting your attention from the urge to smoke."
Mental imagery has the advantage of being a non-invasive treatment, with no side effects and low cost, making it valuable for clinical use. Despite the pharmacological revolution in mental health over the past few decades, non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatments remain less expensive and just as effective, if not more so, as demonstrated by various studies on post-traumatic stress and depression. The mental imagery approach also has the advantage of focusing on concrete elements.
Consulting a mental coach allows you to change your perspective and adopt appropriate self-hypnosis techniques. The goal is to break free from the dilemma between “reasonable” and “unreasonable” by focusing on controlling emotions and sensations, rather than focusing solely on the rational dimension.
The strength of the mental coach's approach lies in their ability to tailor support to each individual's needs and preferences. The methods used are similar for each stage of smoking cessation (starting to quit, maintaining abstinence). These techniques use knowledge of how the brain works to help understand smokers' behavior and discover how their minds work.
Ultimately, according to Jean-Damien Dehoux, the role of the mental coach goes far beyond improving athletic performance. Whether for athletes or people who want to quit smoking, mental coaching offers valuable tools for mastering the mind, managing stress and emotions, and achieving personal goals. It is a rapidly growing field that deserves a great deal of attention in the area of health and well-being.
Contact Jean-Damien Dehoux:
Web site: https://www.jddehouxhypnotabacoprepa.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jddehoux
Sources:
- Mental imagery and psychotherapy: mental imagery in cognitive psychopathology
Arnaud Pictet, Grazia Ceschi (2018)
- Mental imagery as addiction therapyMaster's thesis in medicine, Department of Community Psychiatry (PCO), Addiction Medicine Section, University of Lausanne (2016)
- Haller M, Myers US, McKnight A, Angkaw AC, Norman SB. Predicting engagement in psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, or psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy among returning veterans seeking treatment for PTSD. Psychol Serv. 2016 nov. ; 13(4):341–8. 24
- Kamenov K, Twomey C, Cabello M, Prina AM, Ayuso-Mateos JL. The effectiveness of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and their combination on functioning and quality of life in depression: a meta-analysis. Psychol Med. October 26, 2016; 1–12.
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