ABSTRACT
Cigarette smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death in the West. The majority of smokers state that they would like to give it up, but generally continue smoking. The Stages of Change model (Prochaska et al 1992, 1993) categorises smokers into several different sub-groups, according to their current attitudes towards smoking. This chapter focuses on the different types of counselling advice that these different types of smoker need (see Table 12.1). Another new perspective for smoking cessation is the finding that smoking does not itself relieve stress; rather, it sets up deprivation effects which smoking then reverses (Parrott 1994, 1995). Stopping smoking does not therefore mean losing a way of coping with stress. Indeed, former smokers report feeling less stressed within a few months of stopping. These two new directions in smoking cessation counselling are discussed below, after introductory sections on cigarette smoking, and smoking cessation.
