Step 1: Write down your reasons
Start with a sheet of paper or a note on your phone. List why you want to stop smoking or vaping: family, money, sports, a new job, or just being tired of planning your day around the next break. Keep the list somewhere you'll see it. Providers will often ask, and having it ready makes the first conversation easier.
Step 2: Notice where you already can't smoke
Alexandria's rules may make some of this easier than you expect. The city says it was the first municipality in Louisiana to pass a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance that includes bars and gaming facilities. Statewide, R.S. 40:1291.11 of the Louisiana Smokefree Air Act bars smoking in public buildings, schools, and public places and enclosed areas within a place of employment, though it exempts some places, such as outdoor patios. Make a list of the places in your week that are already smoke-free. Those are spots where you already go without lighting up. Downtown offices, the library, the shops you visit on weekends: each one is a stretch of the day that is already part of the plan.
Step 3: Check campus rules if you're a student or staff member
If you attend or work at a public college, R.S. 40:1291.23 requires the school to have a smoke-free campus policy and allows a tobacco-free one. Read your school's policy so you know whether vaping or smokeless products are covered, and where the nearest permitted spot is, if there is one.
Step 4: Choose a format
Decide which style you'd like to try first:
- A one-on-one stop-smoking coach, by phone, video or in person
- A consulting hypnotist
- A group program that meets on a set day each week
Think about your schedule. A night-shift worker in Alexandria may find a video coach easier than a weekday evening group in Pineville.
Step 5: Contact two or three providers
Use this directory to find a few listings near you. Send each the same questions:
- What does the first session look like?
- How many sessions do you usually plan?
- Do you work with people who vape?
- Where do you meet, and do you offer video?
- What does it cost in total, and what is the cancellation policy?
Compare the replies side by side. Plain, specific answers are a good sign. Be cautious with anyone who makes big promises.
Step 6: Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have health questions
If you have questions about your health, or about any product you are thinking of using alongside coaching, ask your own doctor or pharmacist. Providers listed here are not a replacement for that advice.
Step 7: Pick a start date
Choose a day within the next few weeks. Many people pick a Monday, a payday or the start of a vacation. Tell one or two people you trust. If you smoke at home or in the car, decide what you'll do with lighters, ashtrays and vape devices before that date.
Step 8: Plan around your usual triggers
Look back at your week. When do you usually smoke or vape? After meals, on the drive across the Red River, on a work break, with certain friends? Bring that list to your provider and plan an alternative for each one, such as a walk, a glass of water or a call to a friend.
Step 9: Keep your appointments
Put every session in your calendar with a reminder. If a session needs to move, call early. Showing up, even on a hard week, gives you and your provider something to work with.
Step 10: Have a plan for slips
Many people have a cigarette or a puff after their start date. Decide ahead of time what you'll do if that happens: call your provider, reread your list from Step 1, and pick back up the next morning. One slip doesn't erase your plan. Tell your provider about it honestly at the next session; it gives you both something concrete to plan around, such as a different route home or a new answer for a friend who offers you one.
A note on this directory
This site lists independent coaches, consulting hypnotists and group programs. It doesn't run programs, doesn't review providers' backgrounds, and can't promise how any program will go for you. The city and state pages cited below are linked so you can read the rules yourself.