Successful Smoking Cessation Programs: 3 Things to Look for

Smoking cessation programs can make quitting not only easy but also permanent.

And if you’re here, then you’re probably looking for a program like that.

Perhaps you’re here because you’ve tried to quit before but it didn’t last so you want your next quit attempt to be successful. 

Maybe you’re worried about how smoking might be harming your health so you’re looking for a solution.

Or maybe you’re an employer who cares about the health and wellbeing of your employees and you’re looking for the best way to help them.

If that’s you, then you’re right to look for a quit smoking program. Research shows that the best way to quit smoking is with the right assistance.

What is a smoking cessation program? It’s a program online or offline that is designed to help you stop smoking, vaping, or other forms of nicotine.

However, not all smoking cessation programs are created equal.

That’s why I will share with you exactly what to look for in a program so you can make an informed decision about your quit.

At this point, you might be wondering who I am and what do I know about quit smoking programs.

My name is Nasia Davos. I’m a Psychologist, Author, Certified Life Coach, Licensed Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, and certified Smoking Cessation Practitioner.

Above all, I used to be a smoker too.

It was only after a personal tragedy, around 10 years ago, that I first tried to quit smoking.

And I tried every method that was available at the time. But nothing worked. I failed again and again.

That’s how I ended up creating the CBQ Method.

CBQ stands for Cognitive Behavioral Quitting because it helps you stop the thinking and behavioral patterns that keep you addicted to nicotine.

The CBQ Method is a natural psychology-based method that has 4 quit smoking stages.

Going through the 4 stages of the CBQ helps you stop wanting to smoke. How? These 4 stages change how your mind thinks about and experiences smoking.

Over the last decade, this method has reached and helped millions of smokers quit easily and it has been featured in:

– TED talks
– The Huffington Post
– Harvard Blog
– Healthable
– NBC News
– and was selected as the best overall method to stop smoking by VeryWell Mind.

When I first created the CBQ Method, I used it to help people stop smoking with private sessions. And before long, I realized that it was practically impossible to be there for my clients the moment they needed me. So I started creating and giving them small videos to use in difficult moments.

When they told me how helpful this was, I started putting together a video-based online stop smoking program, which turned into the CBQ program that has won the Wellbeing Programme Specialist of the year award and has a 94% success rate. 85% of our members quit the first time they go through the program and 8% succeed the second or third time they go through the program.

Here’s why I’m telling you all this:

To reach this high success rate and help so many people, my team and I spent years testing, researching, and refining this method and program.

So after all this time, we know what works and what doesn’t.

So let me show you how to choose a program that will help you stop smoking for good.

But before we get into that, you need to know what are your options.

Types of Smoking Cessation Programs

1. Group Programs

A group program can be an online forum, website, or Facebook group where people exchange ideas and advice.

Or it can be face-to-face gatherings like Nicotine Anonymous, meetings in clinics guided by an expert, or lavish inpatient programs where you live with other people who want to quit smoking.

2. Individual Programs

In individual programs, you can have online weekly sessions with a therapist or counselor or follow a computer-based smoking cessation program from the comfort of your home.

Alternatively, you can go for “offline” meetings with a counselor or therapist.

3. Combination Programs for Smoking Cessation

Some programs allow you to go through them by yourself (Individual program) but you also have the additional option to reach out to a community or support group if you want to (Group program).

This helps if you want to have your own journey and pace but also feel that you’re not alone.

For example, the CBQ Program is an individual online program (that you can watch from your computer or any device) but we also have an amazing private community where our members can ask questions or connect with other members.

Participating in the community is not required to succeed with the program, but it’s an addition that our members love!

As you can see, there are various options. But no matter what you choose make sure it meets these 7 requirements.

7 Things to Look for in Smoking Cessation Programs that Really Work

Programs that work…

1. Follow a Quit Smoking Method

Not all stop smoking programs follow a specific method. Some offer only support. Others offer only information.

Don’t get me wrong. Having support is important (I will explain why in a bit). Having the right information is necessary. But those aspects alone, are not enough to help you become smoke-free.

What you need, is to follow a process, a roadmap, a method.

A good method has a built-in plan.

Trying to quit smoking without following a logical plan, is like shooting in the dark.

Think about it.

Without a plan, you don’t know how to prepare for your new healthy life.

And you don’t know what to do instead of smoking when you feel stressed, bored, angry or when you’ve had a little too much to drink.

So you constantly doubt yourself.

And this uncertainty adds stress to your quit.

Don’t you think?

But when you follow a plan, you know exactly what to do every step of the way and how to cope with challenges.

And this clarity gives you the confidence you need to stop smoking.

A proper method is also a process.

In other words, a method can’t be a collection of information about quitting smoking. That’s not good enough.

A method needs to have steps and stages where each step builds upon the other.

That way you’re following a logical and reliable path that takes you from a smoker to a happy non-smoker.

On top of that, when you break down a huge goal like quitting smoking into approachable steps, then you take it day by day; step by step.

So quitting cigarettes becomes less overwhelming and stressful and therefore, easier.

The CBQ Method has 4 quit smoking stages, where each stage builds upon the previous one.

They are:

1. Choose to Quit

2. Change Your Mindset

3. Change Your Smoking Pattern

4. Condition Your Smoke-Free Life

The 4 stages of the CBQ Method break down the vague and sometimes intimidating goal of quitting smoking, into approachable steps. Also, the 4 stages are a strategy and a plan that helps you prepare and remove the mental addiction BEFORE you quit.

You can watch my TED talk on why these 4 stages work here.

To learn more about the 4 stages of the CBQ Method and start applying them, click here to get the foundational video of the CBQ Method (and a PDF starter guide). It’s free.

2. The Best Stop Smoking Programs Combine Theory with Practice

This is such an important point. As I teach on our webinars, insight, and knowledge are not enough to change an addiction (or anything for that matter). They need to be paired with the right practice and exercises. 

Think about it.

You can’t become more mindful just by reading about mindfulness; you have to experience it too.

Or you can’t become a tennis player just by reading about different playing techniques; you have to practice.

And you can’t learn how to swim just by reading a book about it. You have to dip your toe in the water.

In the same way, a great program combines theory with practice so you can change how you think about smoking and test your knowledge.

You need both theory and practice to change years of conditioning and prepare for your smoke-free life.

3. Successful Programs Teach You New Skills

Many quit smoking resources tell you why smoking is bad for you. But they don’t show you the most important thing: what to do instead of smoking.

Even worse, some smoking cessation programs give you unnatural alternatives and stop smoking aids like nicotine gums, patches, and vaping, which can sabotage your success.

I’ll explain why.

1. These products are supposed to help with the nicotine withdrawal. But they don’t. Instead, they prolong it.

When you stop supplying your body with nicotine, the cravings eventually end. When you keep taking nicotine, the cravings continue for as long as you remain addicted.

2. Using nicotine substitutes is like telling yourself that you need nicotine to function and feel relaxed and happy.

This belief is damaging as it reinforces the mental addiction and makes it harder to let go of smoking.

3. By using nicotine products and remaining physically addicted to nicotine you’re always one step closer to picking up a cigarette when you face extreme stress or a life crisis.

You don’t need substitutes.

However, you need to learn new coping skills and things to do instead of smoking that will keep your hands busy and help you feel good without cigarettes.

One of the coping skills I teach in the CBQ Program is deep breathing because it reduces cravings and stress. This is great for you especially if you use smoking and vaping to cope with stress.

I explain why deep breathing works in this video about nicotine and anxiety.

The key here is to choose something that keeps your mind and hands busy and away from cigarettes.

4. Successful Smoking Cessation Programs Have Reviews from Real People

This should be fairly obvious but I can’t go without mentioning it.

The best way to assess if something is right for you is to hear from actual people who experienced it before you.

People whose name and face you can see. People who express their journey in their own words and sometimes even share their challenges, successes, insights, and advice.

You can watch Mike’s story here:

Seeking valid reviews is not only useful for online quit smoking programs but for every online service.

Seeing what other people say can help you decide if a program is legit and right for you.

Plus, it paints a picture of how the real journey is like. That way, you know what to expect and you’re not going into the unknown.

On our success page (which you can spend hours reading), we’re proud to have countless reviews from our members who share their stories in their own words!

Our members not only have conquered different forms of nicotine addiction (light, moderate and heavy smokers, vapers, and users of nicotine gums and nicotine lozenges) but they also come from all walks of life, different parts of the world, and have different personal challenges and backgrounds!

5. Effective Programs Must Be Accessible 24/7

Another thing to look for in a smoking cessation program is 24/7 access.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine you’re smoke-free for 2 weeks. But then something happens that stresses you out – an argument with your spouse, bad news, or work stress!

(I bet you can guess what happens next.)

As soon as you feel anxious, you experience a mental craving. The craving mind reminds you of all the times you felt that way in the past and reached for a cigarette.

At that moment, you need to have instant access to some helpful resources.

Let’s face it. If you’re seeing a counselor, you will likely have to wait a week to get help.

If you’re part of an online support group, you will have to wait for someone to see your question and say something helpful.

But if you have an online computer-based (or phone or tablet-based) tobacco cessation program, you can instantly log in, watch a helpful video, and crush that craving.

6. Good Stop Smoking Programs Shouldn’t Be Too Short or Too long

When choosing the right smoking cessation program you have to factor in its length.

A program that’s a couple of hours long may be a good educational video but it won’t create long-lasting change.

Most times, going through a really short individual or group program (3 hours or less) means one or more of the following:

• The information you got is superficial and incomplete.
• You accumulated information without really knowing what to do with it or how to apply it when push comes to shove.
• The program does not include practice (See point #2)

What about long stop smoking programs? (4 weeks or longer)

Lengthy programs may be better equipped to help smokers succeed. However, the longer a program is the harder it becomes for someone to commit to it all the way to the end.

Not necessarily because the program is not engaging enough, but because it’s hard for people to keep their excitement and focus on quitting smoking consistently for 5 weeks in a row.

Naturally, life will get in the way and the longer the process the harder it will be to fend off distractions.

That’s why the ideal length of a program is something in between.

It should be long enough to contain everything you need but not too stretched out where commitment starts to dip.

7. The Best Smoking Cessation Programs Offers Support

Research shows that feeling supported increases your chances of success.

Being able to reach out to friends and loved ones while quitting smoking can be a huge help.

However, not everyone has that kind of support system.

And most times, the people close to us may not be able to understand what it’s like to quit smoking. (Unless they’ve quit smoking themselves)

Or they may not know how to direct us or offer the right advice.

That’s why a good program should offer support.

This can take many forms:

• Email support
• Phone support
• Group support

What matters is to be able to reach out to people who are knowledgeable on the quit smoking process, people who have already quit smoking, and peers who are quitting smoking at the same time as you.

As I mentioned earlier, our members of the CBQ Program also join our private members-only Facebook Group where they get support and advice from me, my team, and from other amazing members who are also quitting smoking or have already quit.

Because having a community helping you, cheering you on, and supporting you along the way, gives you incredible strength and motivation to follow through on your goal. 

Our members also have access to our team of coaches who are former smokers and trained on the CBQ Method so they have empathy, understanding and can offer the right guidance.

About The CBQ Smoking Cessation Program

The CBQ Program is an online stop smoking program that follows the CBQ Method step by step and helps you quit smoking in 10 days.

And we’re proud that the CBQ Program meets all 7 requirements we discussed; Specifically, it:

• Follows a quit smoking method: The CBQ Method.
• Combines theory with practice. The CBQ Program helps you change how you think about smoking and has exercises to help you test and reinforce your learnings.
• Teaches you new skills so you can be more mindful, connect with yourself, relax and cope in healthy ways.
• Has reviews from real people that you can read on our Success Page or on our open CBQ Method Community (this group is free and for everyone who wants to apply the CBQ Method either by themselves or with our program)
• Is always accessible since it’s an online quit smoking program.
• It’s neither too short nor too long. The program lasts 12 days. You smoke during the program and you quit on day 10. However, it’s flexible and self-paced so you can go through it in 20 days if you want to.
• Offers email support and group support.

You can learn more about the CBQ Program and its cost here.

You can watch the Ask An Ex interviews with past members of the CBQ Program on our Youtube channel.

This is Val’s story:

The CBQ Program for Employers

The CBQ Program qualifies as a reasonable alternative as defined by HIPAA/ADA.

If you’re an employer who wishes to offer the CBQ Program to your organization, please reach out to us at [email protected].