Counsellors' Manual for Commercial Tobacco Cessation Treatment

5
Optimize Your Plan
In Session 4, the person was asked to identify some major triggers for commercial
tobacco use, and to think about ways to cope. In this session, the person will examine
what is working well and what needs further change to “optimize” the plan of action.
This session and the last session (Session 6) are devoted to “fine-tuning” and testing
out various coping strategies and supports.
A
sking for feedback from others is the primary focus of the fifth treatment session. Who are the
most helpful supports to changing commercial tobacco use These can include Elders, family
members, friends, colleagues or health professionals. The person is encouraged to ask for
feedback on his or her plan of action, identify what is missing or what he or she could try to do
differently, and to watch for saboteurs (people who are not supportive of change).
During this session, the helper could coach the person on ways to ask for specific feedback. This might
include identifying a number of possible options for each trigger or risk situation, and asking for specific
feedback on what might work best. The concept of “options” can be difficult to communicate to people.
Here is a suggested way of framing this task:
“In the past, commercial tobacco has been a way to cope with the trigger situations we talked about
last week. But, if you think about it, people who don’t smoke also experience similar triggers… they
just cope (or behave) in different ways. This week, we’re going to look at some of the other things
you could do when you’re confronted with one of these triggers. The more options you come up
with the better.”
Providing some concrete examples can be helpful in clarifying the task. Some possibilities include:
Trigger:
Options:
o Smoking while drinking coffee in the morning
o Switching to tea or juice
o Drinking coffee in a place that doesn’t allow smoking (like a coffee shop)