They are very intelligent. Smoking cessation is a popular treatment with acupuncture. It usually involves points on the ear. Many believe that this increases the efficacy of the treatment. Depending on the practitioner, and the patient's unique needs, there may be some other needles placed elsewhere on the body as well.
Treatments vary widely.
Some advertise that only one treatment is needed. I've heard of this working, though I think that the patients that respond to only one treatment are few and far between, but that's just my opinion. The treatment protocol with which I'm the most familiar includes three treatments in the first week and two treatments in the fifth week. There's a psychological wall that one passes through after the fourth week, and this is why the fifth week's treatments are suggested. I'm a practitioner or a representative of a school who would like to have my information listed on the referral pages or the master schools page.