Reply To: Aftermath from quitting smoking

Hi Clearingman,

Thanks for your update.

The explanation you gave makes perfect sense and, for many people, smoking gives a sense of comfort or spending time with a good friend. In truth, it is like spending time with a friend who trashes your house, gives you an illness and robs you of your energy.

So, lip-biting has become your substitute for that. It does not seem to be healthy for you ultimately. Did you use willpower to quit smoking or did you employ a particular modality?

You may wish to layer in some PP suggestions like “I used to smoke to reassure myself” and “When I stopped smoking, I used to bite my lips to reassure myself.” This can free some things up for you.

“I can feel reassured easily” might be a good general suggestion to layer in.

You could also layer in “When I feel excited, I….(insert new positive behaviour)” This could simply be “breathe deeply” or “smile.” PP works very well on triggered behaviours – e.g. “When (X), I (Y)”

It is definitely worth going with the CTs on anger and anxiety.

As far as PSTEC goes, I vouch for all of the tracks. PSTEC Advanced is excellent for therapists, or if you have a general interest in the mind.

For self-help, How to Achieve Almost Anything The Easy Way (http://bit.ly/howtoachieve) is superb.  It's a paid track.

Mindfulness with PSTEC is free and has some great tips and suggestions –  http://bit.ly/pstecmindfulness

In my experience of working with people one-to-one and also from conversing with users of PSTEC, there is always a way to make the desired changes with the PSTEC tools. As a self-helper, I think you would benefit from consistency and also varying the tracks you use.

There are some published works which reference PSTEC and I imagine that this will grow in number. What sort of guide would be helpful for you? Are there any sticking points? I am sure I could write up a guide for you.

I look forward to learning more about how you are getting on,

Paul