One of the most common questions we hear is, How much does hypnosis cost? Most of the time clients ask this question because hypnosis is currently not covered by most insurance plans and is usually paid out-of-pocket.
People often fail to assess how much it’s costing them not to change, however. As a potential hypnosis client, have you ever wondered how much a less than healthy habit is really taking from you both in dollars and in effects to your health? We can easily see and analyze a cost when it’s in a common metric like dollars and cents. However, when it’s in the form of high blood pressure, toxic relationships with family and self, immune system wear and chronic pain, the cost becomes difficult to properly assess. When faced with this kind of confusion, the mind often wants to stay with the status quo.
Unfortunately, most unhealthy habits can go unaddressed for several years (read: several hundred or thousands of dollars). It is absolutely imperative to understand the dollar-and-cents cost associated with continuing the bad habit plus the cost of the stress, sadness, self-judgement, and loss of productivity. In this post, we’ll go over a cost-analysis of three common bad habits: smoking, unhealthy eating, and drinking alcohol.
Still smoking? We see a lot of smoking cessation clients, even though the scientific community has conclusively agreed that cigarettes are toxic to the body. It’s amazing people still smoke, even after seeing eye-opening cigarette packaging with gory pictures of cancer of the mouth and discolored lungs. The price of a pack of cigarettes varies by state, but the average cost in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area is $7.1 Many people smoke a pack every other day, some even more. So, going with a more conservative (1 pack every 2 days) estimate, we’ve already come to an annual cost of $1277. That’s $6387 after 5 years of smoking — not to mention the rising health costs associated with insurance premiums, hospital co-pays, etc! These are costs that smokers and their loved ones must shoulder over time.
Another unhealthy behavior with a high hidden cost is excessive weight due to overeating, poor nutritional choices, or lack of activity. We see a lot of people wanting to lose weight, and hypnosis can work wonders by focusing on the mental portion of the weight loss equation. In the DMV region there is no shortage of stress, and a hectic lifestyle leads many of our clients to use food — especially fast food — to cope with the daily grind. How much is a run through your favorite fast food location costing your wallet? With an average expense of $7 per meal and frequenting average around 4 times per week, the annual cost of fast food is $1440/year. All that money on empty calories that are adding to the waist line! 2
Finally, let’s take a look at the use of alcohol. How many of us have or know someone who has — during a period of stress, reached for a drink to calm the ol nerves? Alcohol used to relax after a long day is as old as the earth is. But the average cost of a bottle of wine comes to $12 per for a decent bottle. And while alcohol consumption rates vary widely, it is not uncommon for many folks in stressful jobs (or stressful lives) to self-medicate at the cost of $4380 per year! And that’s if you happen to only consume one bottle per week!3 Add to this equation the cost of potential hospitalization, medical bills due to liver, kidney, esophageal damage, next-day grogginess and loss of productivity, relationship damage, immune system suppression, intestinal issues, headaches, tightness in shoulders and more; the real cost begins to become clear.
So, what’s the takeaway here? In the end, when evaluating cost for hypnosis services, remember that it’s actually much harder on your wallet to let your bad habit maintain the status quo. It’s even more costly in the long run when one factors in the physical medical costs, emotional costs, and the lost productivity personally and professionally associated with unhealthy behaviors.
Hypnosis involves no medication and is safe for the majority of people. And yes, it actually works! These benefits are exactly the reason why hypnosis is enjoying such a strong resurgence in our current day alternative medicines approach to healing and living frugally!