Addiction Rehab Thousand Islands All About Addiction Counseling | Page 14

Smoking Addiction Counselling
 Smokers usually succumb to the addiction to gain approval, to escape, and feel normal.
There are several factors that influence the success of giving up smoking. The counsellor
should assist by developing a plan of action to quit smoking. This could include specifying
a date to quit smoking and keeping track of it. Smoking could be replaced with a more
productive and/or healthy habit, such as mindfulness practices or drinking fresh juice.
The sweet content in juices can help ease the cravings. The person should be made to
avoid environments that trigger smoking. They could make flash cards of environmental
cues that induce them to smoke, refer to them and avoid going near them.
 The person should be motivated to stay busy with more productive habits and
occupations for a better lifestyle and life satisfaction. They could draft all the
consequences of smoking that have affected them and others. Family support plays a
crucial role when the person is trying to quit. A person cannot quit on willpower alone.
The person should not be demotivated either. Quitting smoking is hard and people who
try to quit are usually unsuccessful because they get cravings or that cravings last for a
lifetime and could make him miserable. Family members should be able to stop the
smoker by perhaps cutting the pocket money that goes into cigarettes, removing ashtrays
and not talking about smoking. The smoker should be reminded consistently about the
health implications. They should be made to realize that a few days of abstinence and the
resulting misery are worth more than a lifetime of sickness and complications.