The Growing Worldwide Quit Smoking Team – England

From the desk of John Dicey, Worldwide Director, Allen Carr’s Easyway

We are so lucky to retain such an incredible team of people within Allen Carr’s Easyway organisation across the world. Smokers looking for a way of stopping smoking sometimes find it really hard to imagine that it is possible to stop easily without any pain or problems at all. They are so used to attempts to quit smoking ending up leaving them feeling miserable and deprived of cigarettes. In their search for a way to stop smoking it can often be inspiring for smokers to hear how our team around the world has been brought together. This is another installment in a series of features that look at the journeys taken by members of Allen Carr’s Easyway To Quit Smoking Facilitator team; from being some of the most hardened smokers on the planet to becoming happy non-smokers and world-leaders in the field of stopping smoking.

Colleen Dwyer, Allen Carr’s Easyway London, England writes:

I was a very scared smoker, particularly toward the end of my addiction. I really thought that I was alone in my experience of constantly trying to stop and failing miserably. Some of my attempts were halfhearted and some were really determined efforts to get myself free – either way I failed each time and it wasn’t getting better.

My sister-in-law quit by attending an Allen Carr’s Easyway to Quit Smoking seminar. I don’t remember paying too much attention to her because she kept talking about a little monster and I thought that was odd.

When my sister quit smoking (shortly afterwards) with Allen’s book I was shocked. I thought my sister and I would be smokers to the grave, so, when she quit so easily I watched in amazement. I excitedly bought Allen’s book ‘The Only Way to Quit Smoking Permanently’ and I read it from cover to cover.

The transformation in my sister was wonderful – she had gone from being just like me (smoking through colds and flu) to not being bothered by people smoking around her. She didn’t seem to miss cigarettes at all. I thought that a transformation like that would require a very dramatic event to accompany it and I read Allen’s book waiting for my ‘magic’ moment. I put out my final cigarette and about half an hour later I quietly retrieved my packet from the bin and I was smoking once more.

Still, my sister’s success and reading the book had definitely given me hope that there was a solution to my problem – I was sure there was something in the method that could help me – so I booked the seminar with one of my brothers and my best friend.

I remember being so nervous that morning but the banter in the car on the way to the clinic masked my fears a little. The receptionists were so lovely at the clinic and I filled in my registration card, answering questions like, ‘How long have you smoked for?’ and ‘What age did you start?’ I remember feeling quite shocked that the answer to both questions was 12 years. Had I really been smoking for that long?

The seminar was brilliant – not in a ‘razzle dazzle’ way but in it’s simplicity. I loved John’s (the therapist) presentation of the seminar and found the 5 hours flew by. The message was similar to the book but somehow it felt more real when I was hearing it in the seminar with 15 other smokers.

Having said that, at the end of the seminar I wasn’t convinced that I was free. I thought it had been interesting and I thought it was good to hear the message again but I still didn’t get my ‘road to Damascus moment’.

As it turned out – I didn’t need one, I left that seminar and I’ve never smoked since. I certainly thought about cigarettes but those thoughts never turned into cravings. I still feel so grateful to Allen and John for giving me my freedom back. Within days of stopping smoking my skin looked better, my eyes were brighter, my relationships with loved ones improved, the constant depressive pressure of my addiction had lifted. I have regained my confidence, my self respect and my eyes have been opened to the manipulative influences of the smoking trap.

I still feel intensely grateful for my freedom and privileged to now be an ‘Allen Carr’ therapist, helping other smokers to escape from the trap 14 years on from my own seminar 🙂

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Colleen delivers stop smoking seminars in London, Reading, Staines, Heathrow, Bournemouth,Southampton, Maidstone and Brighton. For more details of our other quit smoking centres the UK or the 150 cities around the world visit allen-carr.tjlabs.co.uk and click on your country’s flag to find your nearest clinic.

Did you find it easy to quit smoking? Maybe you could help to spread the word?
Do you know of anyone who you would like to help stop smoking? Tell them about this story and if they mention it when they book a session at any one of our stop smoking clinics across the world they can obtain a 10% discount (not valid in conjunction with any other offer or promotion).