By Brittney Bruner
“Today is a new day.”
This optimism is Kentucky Cancer Program coordinator Rachelle Seger’s approach to quitting smoking.
According to Seger, who also works at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville, “smoking is one of the hardest addictions to break.”
Now, organizations such as The Cooper Clayton Program (CCP), where Seger has been coordinating two classes each year since 2005, have been created as a network of classes dedicated to the Cooper Clayton Method to stop smoking within the Kentucky Cancer Program.
Beginning over 20 years ago, the classes within the CCP are the result of a collaborative effort between dentist Thomas Cooper, DDS, a former smoker himself and drug addiction expert Richard Clayton, PhD.
Within the Human Resources Center, through the Get Healthy Now Program, participants can take on the CC Method to quit smoking. At the University of Louisville, smoking cessation classes use the method during a 13 week span while meeting one hour weekly.
Many college students who smoke had tried unsuccessfully to quit, however this was not the case for nontraditional student, Brian Ott, who gave up the habit within the last year. “Quitting smoking was and still is a hard thing to do,” said Ott.
“But for me the harder it was the more inspired I became to quit. I realized that if it had this much of a hold on me than I really didn’t want it in my life.”
While Ott broke the addiction without assistance from any sort of program, he isn’t in total opposition to classes provided such as the CCP provided at U of L.
“As far as the university providing help for students to quit, I think that’s just fine, as long as it is not approached in a judgmental way,” said Ott.
According to Ott, one of the first places to start when an individual wants to quit smoking is to find other ways to “fill in the gaps”.
“I have found if you want to quit something than you need to fill it with something else. You can’t just take something like that out of your life and expect to not miss it,” said Ott.
“There is a hole to fill. So pick something you have always wanted to do, something you always wanted to learn.”
While some students have approached quitting the addiction like Ott, others like Nina Rabalais, have found success in the program provided by the university.
“Cooper Clayton classes gave me the information, motivation and assistance necessary to finally quit smoking for good,” said Rabalais, a dental hygiene student at U of L.
“The topics discussed in weekly sessions went along with the physical and mental changes I experienced as I progressed along my quitting journey. Graduation from the class was a great accomplishment for me. Now I can breathe easily and have a healthier lifestyle.”
