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When shopping for a way to stop smoking or vaping most folks at first go for the easy fix that promises to get rid of the cravings and block out the problem. We don’t have time, we don’t really want to dwell on a problem that we can’t control, we don’t even want to admit that our need for nicotine is a problem. And at first, the “solution” seems to be working. But over time, the cravings come back and because we haven’t learned the nature of our problem or how to get free from it in a lasting way, we end up giving in to our cravings and are back on the merry-go-round of urge = take a hit.
There are many advantages to using online programs to quit. The pandemic taught us ways to access help conveniently without the cost of time, or travel. Online quit smoking or quit vaping programs bring the solution right home to us where we are, as we are. Whether in a video setting viewed at our own time schedule with the privacy of anonymity, or in a virtual class setting with other solution seekers whereby we gain momentum and comradery, we find common ground in our shared problem with other nicotine dependents.
Online programs offer scientific-based strategies and insights about the nature of addiction and help smokers and vapers come to terms with their powerlessness over nicotine and the implications of that in their own lives. Nobody wants to admit they have become unable to control their problem and worse yet, no one wants to accept their addiction as a life sentence. Most folks are looking to regain control so they can eventually return to using nicotine in the way they fantasize in their imaginations. They simply struggle with the concept of their choice going forwards to being an all or nothing choice. And yet, that all or nothing choice is the core reality that all addicts need to accept. All addicts hold onto their pet theory that they are the exception, and when they test their theory by taking a hit or a puff, they will be smoking or vaping once again! Why? Because no addict wants just one. We want them all.
This basic concept is core to any effective program and the online platform can help establish a rational effective approach by informed trainers who can offer perspective and guidance in travelling the path to freedom from being enslaved to nicotine. It is essential that trust is established by the trainer, that the approach being offered is accessible, makes sense, and inspires folks to give stopping a whole-hearted try. Most folks assume the process will be miserable because that is what they assume or were told by others, but misery need not be a part of the process, even though walking through the process of temporary withdrawal is uncomfortable.
While online programs can offer immediate expert support, access to a community of like-minded folks, tips, and tools to rely on, a structure and a process to follow, it will only work if clients work it. Nothing comes from nothing. No program can do it for them.
That is another reason why online programs are often a last resort because the real culprit in the equation is the human unwillingness to change, and all nicotine dependent folks are deeply ambivalent about being held accountable. Programs that offer a psychological insight about the transformative process of being held in the vice of addiction to escaping it towards a lifetime of freedom help addicts resonate with the depth and importance of undergoing the process. This level of profound understanding helps clients embrace a new way of seeing themselves, their dependency, their choices, and help establish new behaviors based on grounded healthy beliefs about themselves. Programs must teach clients how to have compassion for themselves, their needs, desires and how to stay anchored to what is real regarding nicotine and what is not.
Online ongoing support is essential to experiencing lasting success. Getting free from nicotine is a journey, not a sprint. The types of cravings clients face after a month are not the same as what they experience the first week, and the ways opportunities to go back to smoking or vaping show up in more subtle ways after being off nicotine for a few months. That is why effective programs offer road signs by experts who have already travelled these paths and can help clients anticipate the pitfalls.
Online programs, either by video alone or on Zoom privately or with others, all require a commitment to try one’s best, so it is critical to choose a program that one can trust. Chooseasmokefreelife.com and chooseavapefreelife.com offer clients two pathways by experts who have travelled the same path outlined in the trainings. Feel free to visit either site to see a video that outlines the approach and invites you to try it with a guarantee. You can book a half-hour free consultation or call 512-758-1910.
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