"My method is based on the fact that we all move in the direction of our most dominant thoughts," Glen said.

"Smokers just need a new dominant way to think about their smoking behaviour and take action on that new thinking. Our thinking affects how we feel and that helps drive our behaviour."

Glen will hold a "free quit smoking live event" at Rydges Newcastle on Saturday.

"My method utilises hypnosis, however I don't do standard hypnotherapy," he said.

"It includes some hypnosis, however it's not reliant upon it for the client's behavioural change. My definition of hypnosis is the art of presenting a suggestion to a receptive subconscious mind in order to change a perception or behaviour."

In a systematic review of 14 studies in 2019, the University of Auckland found there was "insufficient evidence to determine whether hypnotherapy is more effective for smoking cessation than other forms of behavioural support or unassisted quitting".

So we put it to Glen that hypnosis for quitting smoking might work for some but not for others.

"Yes, that's correct. Even though hypnosis is a good behavioural change tool, you're still presenting suggestions," he said.

"That means a person can consciously decide not to act upon those suggestions."

His method was "not a miracle cure" but a different way to think about smoking.

"A smoker still needs to sincerely want to quit for any method to be effective," he said.

While his event is free, we read on Glen's website that he offers one-on-one 90-minute sessions for $595. We asked him how he justified the price.

"The price for the one-to-one sessions are for a one-off quit smoking consultation. For the vast majority of clients, just one 90-minute session is required," he said.

"Please keep in mind that the most costly option for a smoker to choose is to continue smoking, as it negatively affects their health, wealth, family and friends - as well as impacting on the broader community."

He said a pack-a-day smoker spends about $14,560 a year on cigarettes, adding that smoking was "costly on many levels".

People used to smoke because they thought it looked cool.

"Now, however, I think people smoke because of their stressful life experiences. Some of these include poor nutrition, lack of quality sleep and unhealthy and/or unfortunate life choices," he said.

To add a touch of whimsy, we asked Glen what he thought aliens would think of smoking. "I think if they saw humans smoking, they'd probably just shake their head in disappointment. However, If humans saw aliens that had come from an advanced planet, then I'm confident that we'd notice that they weren't smoking."

The event runs from 10am to 11.30am. To register, visit glenpattisonsquitsmokingsession.com.

We reported on Saturday that Channel Ten's promo for Monday's episode of The Amazing Race Australia referred to "Sydney's picturesque Hunter Valley".

"Just to get even with this, I think we should do the same with the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A quarter of the steel in the bridge was produced by BHP in Newcastle," Ross Greig, of New Lambton, said.

"Therefore, tolls for going over the Sydney-Newcastle Harbour bridge should be reduced by a quarter for Novocastrians."

Better still, a quarter of toll revenue should go straight to projects in Newcastle.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: