The end of year tends to make us more reflective on the past year, in which we evaluate and attempt to take steps to better ourselves. It’s a great initiative however for one to complete their goals the specific change in behaviour needs to be done in a structured manner. The way we perceive a behaviour has much to do with individuals engaging in specific behaviours.
I wanted to focus on smoking cessation for this blog whilst taking a CBT approach to curbing the habit. When one alters the way in which they perceive smoking, behaviour change should follow. It is important to note that along the way there may be pitfalls, and that it’s okay to make mistakes. One must not get discouraged from the possibility of making a slip from engaging in any behaviour. Remember, any attempt to stop smoking is a positive behaviour! What tends to get in the way of individuals attaining their goals are their expectations of themselves. Some don’t allow themselves to make a mistake or are very rigid on themselves if they do make mistakes. A way in which one can tackle this, is if one sets small realistic goals for each week to accomplish, this will boost the individuals self-efficacy which will give a higher probability of the individual achieving the goal! In the case of a slip or relapse, reflect on the mistake and analyse the factors which made you slip in order to avoid future slips.
Kicking the habit of smoking should take a structured approach, which will comprise of processing different areas such as: Problem-solving strategies, education about the quitting process, identifying social or environmental cues, social support, thinking patterns.
Karl Grech is a counsellor. He offers counselling to both individuals and couples within Willingness. He can be contacted on karl@willingness.com.mt.
You can visit his profile on: https://zme.tec.mybluehost.me/willingnessmt/team/karl-grech/