Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take?
The weekly training takes five consecutive days, 1 ½ to 2 hours per session or class, usually Monday through Friday, or Thursday through Monday.
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Once you have stopped smoking and want to stay off, Choose a Smokefree Life will commence three months of consistent email follow-up, access to a private Facebook group with Facebook Live group sessions, and archived messages. You may receive your own phone follow-up support for an additional fee for three to six months, depending on your needs. Having your own personal “coach” whom you know will be calling you on a regular basis to offer personal help fosters motivation to stay successful.
What will it take in order to get rid of the cravings?
You will not be taught how to get rid of your urges. Most other programs and products teach you to run from your urges by replacing them with another substance or the same substance in another form, in the hope that as time goes on your urges will “blow over” and then you will be “cured”. The Choose a Smokefree Life approach is not a shell game, where we fool you into believing that the urges have vanished only to have them pop up somewhere else. You will not be taught to transfer your dependency from cigarettes and vapes to celery sticks, or donuts, coffee, or any other substance.
Will I gain weight?
You will not gain weight, not unless you smoke or vape food! That is in fact what a lot of methods teach you to do. They teach you to substitute something in place of the cigarette or e-cigarette. But with the Choose a Smokefree Life method you won’t be replacing cigarettes or e-cigarettes with other substances. Your dependency on nicotine will not be transferred onto other activities or substances. We advocate that everything you normally eat or drink should stay the same while you are stopping.
Will I need to take anything for the withdrawals?
That won’t be necessary. Perhaps the difficulties you have had in the past in dealing with withdrawal were due to the approach you were encouraged to take. Conventional wisdom tells you to fight the discomfort and to run from it. But the Choose a Smokefree Life method will give you tools for dealing with your urges that will eliminate the struggle. This will be explored in depth during the training.
In all of the years of working with smokers, I have not encountered anyone who needed medical treatment for their withdrawal from smoking. If you were to have unusual physical symptoms, I would encourage you to consult your doctor, as it is outside the program’s domain to evaluate your medical condition.
Is this spiritual?
This approach is not religious based, nor is it affiliated with any spiritual practice. It is not necessary that you have any religious or spiritual beliefs in order to be successful with this approach. Having said that, many of our clients have experienced a “transformation of self” that can happen as the result of stepping outside of one’s old ideas about oneself.
Is this hypnosis?
No, this is not hypnosis. We do use guided imagery and certain relaxation techniques. But we don’t put you “under a spell” or magically take away your urges to smoke.
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We are not doing it to you or for you. Rather, our purpose is to empower you to regain the control over the life you once had before you developed your addiction to nicotine. We believe the magic that most smokers are looking for comes from within. So we help you regain awareness of that power to make positive choices.
Is this therapy?
The sessions and classes are trainings, not therapy. The process is therapeutic, insofar as it helps you restore the quality of your life, but it is not therapy per se. We are not psychologists and therapists. We do not explore your smoking history, and we do not look for “underlying causes” to your smoking. When stopping smoking, it isn’t relevant why you want to smoke; rather it is relevant that you want to smoke. The teacher and supporters will guide you how to stop and stay off for life.
What if I am not a 100% sure I want to stop? What if I don’t feel ready?
Most smokers never feel entirely ready to stop. You don’t need to totally make up your mind beforehand in order to be successful. In fact, the nature of addiction doesn’t allow for that to happen. At best, you probably feel deeply ambivalent about stopping: one part of you wants to stop, but the addicted side of you does not want to part with your “best friend”, and that is what cigarettes or e-cigarettes have become for you.
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So, the day when you are entirely convinced you want to stop will probably not come. Feeling ambivalent or fearful doesn’t have to prevent you from taking the challenge. You can succeed in spite of these feelings. You just need a small degree of willingness to take the first step. That is the essential ingredient in this Choose a Smokefree Life recipe.
Why is Choose a Smokefree Life so expensive compared to other programs?
Most of our clients have already tried free or low cost programs that have not worked for them. While the Choose a Smokefree Life program may cost more than most other products and programs on the market, the cost is quite low when you consider the degree of individualized support each person receives. The fee includes approximately 10 hours of private sessions or class time and an aggregate of about 10 hours of phone follow-up for each client from the stop date. In fact, it costs less than what you pay to smoke for three months. With this investment in yourself, you will have bought support to stop and stay off, and you will have the tools at your disposal to stay off cigarettes for the rest of your life.
What if I don’t have time?
It is entirely up to you. It is just the quality of your life that is at stake. Classes are required only for five consecutive days. After that, you may avail yourself to the follow-up support in your own time.
We believe the Choose a Smokefree Life approach needs to be applied to each person’s unique life if it is going to work at all. This is a simple process for people who have full, and sometimes complicated lives.
