Stop smoking counsellingYour next attempt can be different.

The World Health Organization describes tobacco as harmful to nearly every organ in the body and reports that it kills more than 7 million people a year, including over 1.6 million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke¹. Most smokers know this. The difficulty is that knowing the risks does not switch off cravings.

Smoking is maintained by three interacting layers:

Behavioural support has strong evidence. A Cochrane network meta-analysis found that some types of behavioural support, including counselling, increased people's chances of quitting for six months or longer, whether or not they were also taking stop-smoking medicines, and that more intensive support modestly increased success². An earlier Cochrane review of 49 trials with around 19,000 participants found high-quality evidence that individual counselling was more effective than minimal contact such as brief advice or self-help materials, and moderate-quality evidence of added benefit when people were also using nicotine replacement therapy³. NICE guidance on tobacco covers stop-smoking support for everyone aged 12 and over, as well as ways to reduce harm for people who are not ready to stop in one go⁴.

This is the approach our sessions follow: structured behavioural and psychological support, tailored to your own smoking pattern and combined, where you choose, with the stop-smoking medicines your doctor or pharmacist recommends.

Our therapists work in an integrative, evidence-informed way. Sessions usually include:

• Exploring your motivation: your own reasons for stopping, and any ambivalence, which is normal and worth understanding rather than ignoring.
• Mapping your smoking: when, where, with whom and why you smoke, to identify your strongest triggers.
• Choosing a quit date and a plan, including whether to use stop-smoking medicines, which you discuss with your doctor or pharmacist.
• Managing cravings: delay, distraction, breathing, changing routines and riding out the urge, which typically passes within minutes.
• Techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy, where helpful, to handle thoughts such as "one won't hurt" or "I deserve it after today".
• New ways to cope with stress and emotions, so that stopping does not leave a gap.
• Relapse prevention: planning for high-risk situations and, if you slip, learning from it rather than giving up.

Online sessions make it easier to keep regular contact in the first weeks, when support matters most. Your therapist can help you prepare for specific challenges, such as a social event, and review how it went at the next session. Research on behavioural support shows that the delivery method can vary; Cochrane's review found that support by text message probably also helped more people stop than no support². Live video sessions offer the more personal, intensive contact that the evidence links with modestly greater success².

Consider counselling if you want to stop and have struggled before, if smoking is linked with stress, anxiety or low mood, if you are planning a pregnancy or have health concerns, or if you are simply ready to make a serious attempt.

If you have a heart or lung condition, are pregnant, or take regular medication, please speak to your doctor about stopping smoking and stop-smoking medicines. We are happy to work alongside your doctor.