Before you begin
This guide is for anyone in Morgantown or the rest of Monongalia County who wants to stop smoking or vaping and isn't sure where to start. It doesn't assume you have tried before, and it doesn't push you toward any one kind of provider. It simply lays out an order of steps.
Step 1: Write down your own reason
Take a sheet of paper and write one or two sentences about why you want to stop. Keep it in your wallet or phone case. When you talk to providers later, that sentence will help you explain what you are after.
Step 2: Map your current routine
This is a quiet observation step, not a test. You aren't changing anything yet.
For three or four days, note when and where you smoke or vape. You will probably see a pattern shaped by local rules. In Monongalia County, the health department says smoking is prohibited in all enclosed public places, and electronic smoking devices are included in that definition. So your breaks likely happen outside work, outside restaurants and bars, outside stores, and away from bus waiting areas.
Mark the times that feel automatic and the ones that feel deliberate. A provider will want to know both. Note who you are with, too: a coworker on the same break, a roommate, a friend after class. Those patterns often matter as much as the time of day.
Step 3: Pick a start window
Choose a two- to four-week window when your schedule is relatively steady. For students and university staff, that might be the stretch after midterms or the start of a break. For shift workers, it might be a month without a rotation change. Avoid weeks with a move, a big deadline or a family event if you can.
Step 4: Decide what kind of support you want
Three common options appear in this directory:
1. A stop-smoking coach, for one-on-one planning and check-ins. 2. A consulting hypnotist, if you are curious about hypnosis sessions as part of your plan. 3. A group program, if a regular time and other people in the same position would help you keep going.
You can also talk with your own doctor or pharmacist; that is a separate conversation from anything on this site.
Step 5: Contact two or three providers
It is easier to compare when you talk to more than one. Set aside an evening for calls or emails.
Ask each the same questions so you can compare:
- How many sessions, how long, and over what period?
- In person, video or phone? If in person, where?
- Do you see people who vape, smoke, or both?
- What does the first session involve?
- What is the full cost and the rescheduling policy?
Be cautious with anyone who promises how things will go for you; nobody can know that ahead of time. This directory introduces you to independent providers and doesn't check their backgrounds, so ask about training too.
Step 6: Prepare your surroundings
Small practical changes in the days before you start can make the first week feel more manageable.
Before your start date, decide what to do with lighters, ashtrays, devices and refill pods at home and in the car. Tell one or two people what you are doing and when. If you share a home with someone who smokes, talk about where they will smoke during your start window.
Step 7: Use the places that are already smoke-free
West Virginia's Clean Indoor Air Program, at the state Bureau for Public Health, describes its goal as eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke, and Monongalia County's rule already keeps many indoor spaces smoke-free. You can lean on that rather than relying on willpower alone at every turn. Plan your first few weeks around indoor places where smoking and vaping aren't allowed anyway: a library table instead of a patio, a coffee shop booth instead of the curb.
Step 8: Check in after two weeks
Look back at your notes from Step 2. What has changed? What has been hardest? Bring those observations to your provider, or to your group, and adjust the plan together.
Step 9: Decide on next steps
Take stock honestly. Look at your Step 1 sentence again and ask whether your current plan still fits that reason, or whether your reason has shifted.
After a month or so, decide whether to keep meeting at the same pace, space sessions out, or try a different type of support. Changing providers is normal. The aim is a plan you can keep living with in your own Morgantown routine.