Vault: She's Trying Hypnosis to Quit Smoking

Summary

The Bert Show – “Vault: She’s Trying Hypnosis to Quit Smoking”

Date: June 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jen Hobby from The Bert Show shares her decision to try hypnosis as a method to quit smoking—an ongoing struggle she’s ready to face once and for all. The cast comes together to support Jen, discussing the challenges of quitting, their thoughts on hypnosis, and stories from both listeners and others who have attempted similar journeys. The tone is candid, supportive, and peppered with relatable humor, offering a genuinely open look at what it’s like to take on a big lifestyle change in front of an audience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Jen’s Personal Commitment to Quitting Smoking

• Jen shares her motivation and nerves:
  “I'm actually going to hypnosis today for stopping smoking. Yeah, I'm gonna stop smoking today. Forever and ever. And Ever and ever. Like, your mind is made up. Mind is made up. And I'm really, really anxious about it...”
  — Jen Hobby, [01:53]

• Hypnosis serves as a “launching pad,” making the quit-date an event rather than an arbitrary deadline.
  “It’s been on the calendar for a while, and it’s been like, sort of this marked place ... you have to kind of arbitrarily make it up. But this is really like an activity ... like, it's something that's sort of launching it for me.”
  — Jen Hobby, [02:28]

The Mental Hurdles of Quitting

• The anxiety isn't just about stopping smoking, but also about putting faith in the hypnotist and facing the unknown.

  • Host: “Are you nervous just because you're so used to smoking at random times ... or are you nervous that ... you’re just kind of putting it in the hands of the hypnotist?”
    — Host (Jeff), [02:58]

  • Jen: “Yes, I'm nervous about all of it.”
    — Jen Hobby, [03:14]

  • Jen acknowledges personal responsibility:
    “Cause you have to take personal responsibility for it as well. It's not just some sort of, like, hocus magic thing that's gonna make me never want to have a cigarette ever again.”
    — Jen Hobby, [03:23]

Preparation and Rituals Before Quitting

• Jen follows the hypnotist’s instructions, throwing out all cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays to avoid relapse.
  “He told me to get rid of everything, and so I have everything with me at the office ... that was part of the instruction. Like, really just get rid of all that stuff that will remind you of it. And don't have a crutch that's sort of leftover.”
  — Jen Hobby, [03:41]-[04:30]

• She jokes about the universal “junk drawer” and its leftover temptations, adding levity to the challenge:
  “Everybody's got their junk drawer in their kitchen ... and a button that you're never going to sew back on ... you can't throw it away.”
  — Co-host (Burt), Jen Hobby, [04:50]-[04:53]

Openness to Hypnosis & Past Experience with Alternatives

• Jen is open to holistic experiences:
  “I've never done hypnosis before, but I've done a lot of, like ... meditation and chanting. I’ve done acupuncture before ... I'm really open to the possibility of those kind of things working.”
  — Jen Hobby, [05:29]

Listener Stories & Support

• Joshua (Listener): Calls in while buying a pack of cigarettes, emphasizes how hard quitting is, and asks Jen for her hypnotist’s info.

  • “I've looked online at the hypnosis thing, trying to figure out where to go or who to talk to ... Please help me. Who are you going to to get hypnosis by? Because I'm ready to quit.”
    — Joshua, [07:48]-[08:16]

  • Jen provides a resource:
    “I'm going to a guy by the name of Sean Wheeler today, and his company's called Pure Hypnosis, and we've actually featured him on the Bert Show twice.”
    — Jen Hobby, [08:16]

• Bobby (Listener): Shares a vivid story about a friend's hypnotic aversion to smoking—creating a strong mental negative association through imagery.

  • “The hypnosis guy took a pack of cigarettes and he squeezed it. And as he squeezed it, he remembers seeing nicotine drip out ... onto a rat ... it started doing this chemical burn ... he could smell it as if it was right there ... And to this day, he can't touch a cigarette.”
    — Bobby, [08:59]-[09:25]

  • Jen acknowledges the power—and intimidation—of this approach:
    “It makes me nervous. That's, like, pretty powerful stuff. That just made me nervous.”
    — Jen Hobby, [09:40]

Planning Ahead: Avoiding Triggers and Sharing Her Journey

• Jen plans to avoid social triggers:
  “I'm probably not gonna be going out very much in the next couple of weeks or a month and just try to lay low and keep it low key.”
  — Jen Hobby, [10:17]

• She commits to sharing her experience and sees public accountability as helpful:
  “I think talking about it and telling everybody, you know, that you're quitting smoking helps you quit smoking. So telling everybody I know, including the Bert Show family and all the listeners, which are the Bert Show family.”
  — Jen Hobby, [09:59]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the daunting nature of quitting:
  “I've battled with it forever and ever and ever. If there's any young people listening and you think it's cool, like, it's not, and it's going to be a really, really difficult thing for you at some point in your life. So just don't.”
  — Jen Hobby, [04:54]

• On the hope for hypnosis:
  “But I'm hoping that it's the launch. That's the sort of launching pad that I need to stick to it.”
  — Jen Hobby, [03:23]

• Listener’s visualization experience:
  “He remembers seeing nicotine drip out of the cigarettes onto a rat ... as that nicotine hit a rat, it started doing this chemical burn. And he said he could smell it as if it was right there ... can't touch a cigarette.”
  — Bobby, [08:59]-[09:25]

• Jeff’s attempt at comic relief:
  “There is something hot about that smell.”
  — Host (Jeff), [07:16]
  (to which Jen and Burt both playfully object)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:53]: Jen announces her hypnosis plan and quitting smoking commitment
• [02:58]: Exploring Jen’s nerves and thoughts about hypnosis
• [04:30]: Jen discusses preparation and rituals before quitting
• [05:29]: Jen’s openness to alternative methods like hypnosis
• [07:48]: Listener Joshua calls in; relatable quitting struggles
• [08:16]: Jen shares her hypnotist’s info for listeners
• [08:59]: Listener Bobby delivers a vivid hypnosis story
• [09:40]: Jen’s reaction to the vivid story—balancing hope and anxiety
• [10:17]: Jen’s social avoidance plan to avoid relapse triggers

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Final Thoughts & Episode Takeaways

This episode offers a refreshingly honest look at the emotional and practical journey of quitting smoking, especially using a less conventional route like hypnosis. Jen’s vulnerability, paired with encouragement from the cast and listeners, makes the experience supportive and approachable for anyone considering a similar path. The mix of humor and sincerity captures The Bert Show’s signature style and leaves the audience curious to hear Jen’s follow-up on her progress.

Transcript

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[Host (Jeff)]

The Birch show so one Birch show listener today is being born again is changing their life or one Birch show member rather. It's gonna be born again in just a few hours.

[Jen Hobby]

Okay.

[Host (Jeff)]

It's not me. Okay. Not Melissa, it's not Wendy. It's Jen hobby.

[Jen Hobby]

It is.

[Co-host (Burt)]

You're gonna be born again.

[Jen Hobby]

I'm gonna be born again today. Well, sort of born again. When you said birch to listener, I was like, I do like to listen to the show, but I'm kind of on it too. Thanks, chef. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I'm actually going to hypnosis today for stopping smoking. Yeah, I'm gonna stop smoking today. Forever and ever. And Ever and ever. Like, your mind is made up. Mind is made up. And I'm really, really anxious about it because I've stopped smoking before for a period of time. Obviously didn't work, but it's really, really hard to do. And so I'm really nervous about it. And I know that it's not like the hypnosis I'm hoping is going to be this, like, kickstart, you know, like something for me, it's been on the calendar for a while, and it's been like, sort of this marked place where, okay, that's gonna be your deadline day to sort of have something on there. Cause otherwise, for somebody who smokes, it's, like, arbitrary. You arbitrarily make it up. Like, oh, it'll be Sunday after I go out and have a big night on Saturday, or it'll be this coming Monday, or it's gonna be my birthday, or, you know, whatever it is, you have to kind of arbitrarily make it up. But this is really like an activity. Like, it's something that's sort of like launching it for me.

[Host (Jeff)]

So now why are you. Are you nervous just because you're so used to smoking at random times and having a cigarette in your hand and now you're not gonna be able to, or are you nervous that.

[Jen Hobby]

Yes.

[Host (Jeff)]

Oh, because aren't you just kind of putting it in the hands of the hypnotist?

[Jen Hobby]

Yes, I'm nervous about all of it.

[Host (Jeff)]

But, I mean, once you put it in his hands, if it doesn't work, there should be no pressure on you, right?

[Guest (Bobby)]

Or.

[Host (Jeff)]

No, is there still pressure on you?

[Jen Hobby]

Cause you have to take personal responsibility for it as well. It's not just some sort of, like, hocus magic thing that's gonna make me never want to have a cigarette ever again. But I'm hoping that it's the launch. That's the sort of launching pad that I need to stick to it.

[Host (Jeff)]

Have you already had your last cigarette?

[Jen Hobby]

No. He told me to get rid of everything, and so I have everything with me at the office. A lot of times, smokers will have your emergency pack in the back of the junk drawer just in case that's gone, to get rid of ashtrays and lighters and all that kind of stuff. So all of that is with me in my purse today. And after the show, I plan on. I have it in my head to

[Co-host (Burt)]

have one more, of course, your ceremonial, or maybe two.

[Jen Hobby]

Do you smoke the entire pack and then throw it away?

[Host (Jeff)]

Do you smoke in your house?

[Jen Hobby]

No.

[Host (Jeff)]

So when you smoke at home, you step outside, of course. Okay. So there's not gonna be any smell or anything in there.

[Jen Hobby]

No.

[Host (Jeff)]

To remind you. And does your dog Carolina smoke?

[Jen Hobby]

She'll be glad that when I stop, I think.

[Host (Jeff)]

And did you remove any, like, secret stash packs? Like, there's not one more hidden.

[Jen Hobby]

Yeah, there's not any more hidden. Because that was part of the. Yeah, I swear. Because that was part of the instruction. Like, really just get rid of all that stuff that will remind you of it. And don't have a crutch that's sort of leftover. And so I do. I have, like, everybody's got their junk drawer in their kitchen with your, like, scissors and pins and, you know, random safety pins and old keychains. Yeah.

[Co-host (Burt)]

And a button that you're never going to sew back on.

[Jen Hobby]

Right.

[Co-host (Burt)]

You can't throw it away.

[Jen Hobby]

Exactly.

[Host (Jeff)]

But that's.

[Jen Hobby]

That's the drawer. So I cleared that out today. And. Yeah. So I'm like, I'm just really, really anxious about it. Cause I want it to work. I want it to be the launching pad that I need. I don't want to smoke anymore. I've battled with it forever and ever and ever. If there's any young people listening and you think it's cool, like, it's not, and it's going to be a really, really difficult thing for you at some point in your life. So just don't. You know, it's. I don't know. Are you nervous about, like, the whole process of going under hypnosis, like, what it's gonna feel like? No, I'm pretty open to that kind of stuff.

[Host (Jeff)]

Have you done it. Have you done it before or.

[Jen Hobby]

No, I've never done hypnosis before, but I've done a lot of, like. Remember when I went on the trip to the yoga ashram and I did a lot of, like, meditation and chanting? And I'm open to all that kind of stuff. I've done acupuncture before. Like, I'm really open to the possibility of those kind of things working. So that part, for me, I think I'll really be able to sort of relax and let go and sort of lose control and let him take over with the hypnosis part of it. But I'm interested on how it's gonna work because I was talking to a friend last night who told me that he had witnessed hypnosis before, and he witnessed it on a friend of his.

[Host (Jeff)]

That's creepy.

[Jen Hobby]

Who smoked.

[Host (Jeff)]

And he asked him, why don't you be hypnotized.

[Jen Hobby]

I know it was in front of a group of people. It was, like, at a group presentation or whatever. And one of his friends that smoked used to be. And I guess this is when he was in high school. So one of the kids was like the go sneak in the bathroom and smoke a cigarette kid. And after this kid came out of the hypnosis, he said that he didn't remember being hypnotized and went to the bathroom to smoke his cigarette and thought somebody had messed with his pack. Cause he couldn't realize or he couldn't figure out why it tastes so bad and why he didn't want it. Yeah. And he was like, somebody messed with my pack of cigarettes. Somebody, like, put something on them or whatever. He didn't even recognize or remember that he had been put under hypnosis. So. And apparently it worked for him. That kid never smoked again. So I was like, maybe if it can make it that gross to me. Because sometimes it is really gross. You know, you wake up the next morning after going out, and you're like, having a big party night, and you wake up and your hair smells like it. And you're just like, it is gross to me sometimes, but other times, it's like, the best thing in the world. It's like a steak, you know, like. So I'm hoping it'll make it just

[Host (Jeff)]

really gross to me in a very collegiate way. There is something hot about that smell.

[Lady Luck]

Really?

[Jen Hobby]

Don't tell me that, Jeff. I don't need that in my head.

[Co-host (Burt)]

That is the same as when Burt told Stacy something about it being hot that she smoked.

[Guest (Bobby)]

Remember?

[Co-host (Burt)]

And he's trying to get her to stop smoking, but then he made that comment. Jeff, you suck.

[Host (Jeff)]

Hey, Joshua, welcome to the show.

[Guest (Joshua)]

How you doing?

[Host (Jeff)]

What's going on?

[Guest (Joshua)]

Yeah, I stepped out the truck when you guys started this conversation about the smoking to buy a pack of cigarettes.

[Jen Hobby]

Oh, I'm with you. I know how that feels.

[Guest (Joshua)]

And I've got married about a year ago, and one of my wife's pet peeves is my smoking, and it is unhealthy. And I've noticed, you know, walking the dog or going for a run or everything, it's getting shorter and shorter and shorter and, you know, trying to quit. It's one of the world's hardest things to do. So I've looked online at the hypnosis thing, trying to figure out where to go or who to talk to or whatnot. Please help me. Who are you going to to get hypnosis by Because I'm ready to quit.

[Jen Hobby]

I'm going to a guy by the name of Sean Wheeler today, and his company's called Pure Hypnosis, and we've actually featured him on the vert show twice. Once in December when we first originally met him, and then he came back just, what, a week ago.

[Host (Jeff)]

Yeah, because we talked about New Year's resolutions in the past couple weeks, and we did different things every day, and we did not smoking. And he came in and offered to help out Jen Hobby, and she had to wait a couple weeks because he's so backed up. Everybody's quitting at the beginning of the year.

[Jen Hobby]

Yep. He's really, really busy right now, so. Yeah, it took me a while get in to see him, but I'm really looking forward to it. See what. See what happens. And I'll certainly share the experience or what I remember of it with everybody.

[Host (Jeff)]

Hey, Bobby. Welcome to the bird show.

[Guest (Bobby)]

How you doing?

[Host (Jeff)]

What's going on?

[Guest (Bobby)]

I had a friend who went into hypnosis to quit smoking, and he said he went under the spell, and he would. The hypnosis guy took a pack of cigarettes and he squeezed it. And as he squeezed it, he remembers seeing nicotine drip out of the cigarettes onto a rat. And as that nicotine hit a rat, it started doing this chemical burn. And he said he could smell it as if it was right there in front of him.

[Advertisement Narrator]

Oh.

[Guest (Bobby)]

And to this day, he can't touch a cigarette. Gets sick looking at him.

[Host (Jeff)]

Good.

[Co-host (Burt)]

Okay.

[Host (Jeff)]

So there wasn't a real.

[Jen Hobby]

It was a visualization thing.

[Guest (Bobby)]

Yeah, it was all a visual visualization. I mean, it wasn't real, but he says it was vivid as.

[Jen Hobby]

It makes me nervous. That's, like, pretty powerful stuff. That just made me nervous.

[Host (Jeff)]

If it worked, it worked. And you're gonna record. You're gonna record the whole thing. Right.

[Jen Hobby]

So whatever he will allow us to record. I haven't really asked him about the specifics, but, yeah, I'm gonna bring a recorder with me today. So if. I mean, if it's interesting enough to share, we certainly will.

[Co-host (Burt)]

Well, good luck today.

[Jen Hobby]

Thank you. I'm really nervous. I'm really nervous. But I think talking about it and telling everybody, you know, that you're quitting smoking helps you quit smoking. So telling everybody I know, including the Burchau family and all the Burchau listeners, which are the Burchau family.

[Host (Jeff)]

So when's the next time you have to go out with girlfriends or people who smoke and be drinking?

[Jen Hobby]

I'm probably not gonna be going out very much in the next couple of weeks or a month and just try to lay low and try to lay low and keep it low key.

[Host (Jeff)]

Perfect. Good luck.

[Jen Hobby]

Yay. Thank you. We'll see. Don't do it for me yet.

[Lady Luck]

You can do it.

[Co-host (Burt)]

You're making the move, so that's worth cheering.

[Jen Hobby]

We'll let you know.

[Guest (Joshua)]

Get it.

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