- With Mayo Clinic behavioral counselor
Jennifer A. Kern, M.S., C.T.T.S.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Jennifer A. Kern, M.S., C.T.T.S.
Jennifer A. Kern, M.S., C.T.T.S.
Jennifer Kern is a tobacco treatment specialist, certified through the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center.
Her counseling work addresses various aspects of tobacco addiction, including the love-hate relationship many tobacco users have with their smoking or chewing, education about nicotine addiction, and effective strategies to help with quitting.
In addition, she explores the importance of getting emotional and social support when stopping tobacco use, and offers ideas and suggestions about how to ask for and give this support.
Being bilingual, she enjoys counseling in both Spanish and English. She holds a master's degree in psychology, with interests including spirituality, psychosomatic illness, depression and anxiety, maladaptive coping behaviors, and overall health behavior change.
"As a former smoker, I am personally familiar with the complexity of dealing with the 'tobacco shackles,' " she said. "I am committed to helping others conquer this addiction so they may regain their freedom and possibly even save their own lives."
Latest entries
- Smokers, don't take your health for granted
Jan. 27, 2010
- Don't give up on goal to quit smoking
Jan. 9, 2010
- Helping others can help you become a non-smoker
Dec. 24, 2009
- Finding inner talents can aid the quit smoking process
Dec. 15, 2009
- Focus on gratitude, not craving a cigarette
Nov. 24, 2009
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Quit smoking blog
-
Nov. 5, 2009
Preparation key to quitting smoking
By Jennifer A. Kern, M.S., C.T.T.S.
Preparation is something we are constantly engaged in throughout our lives. We are all in a process of getting ready for our "next steps," whether consciously aware of it or not. It may be something as small as brushing our teeth to prepare to go to bed, or something as big as getting a baby room ready to prepare for a new member of the family.
We know from experience that in order to have the outcomes we want in life, we need to take responsibility for the results in advance through adequate preparation. The same is true for going tobacco-free.
When you think about quitting smoking, consider the preparation steps you'll need to take to have the success you desire.
- Reflect on what has worked in the past and build on that.
- Practice not smoking in advance and try out the coping tools you plan to use.
- Take the time to write out what you will do when you have the urge to smoke.
- Review medication options with your doctor or another health professional.
- Talk to a support person about how they can help you through situations that put you at risk of relapse.
- Spend a few minutes everyday visualizing what your life will be like and how you will feel as a non-smoker.
- Add your own steps — ones that you know will work for you.
The more work you can do up front, the better your "performance" will be once you reach your target smoke-free date. When you prepare in advance for how you will live your life as a non-smoker, you set yourself up for success.
6 comments posted
December 30, 2009 6:25 a.m.
I quit smoking, for the eighth time, 2.5 years ago, and counting. I learned many lessons over the years and preparation is most important. My preparations consisted of: lessening the "habits" of smoking, i.e. having a cigarette right after eating; when having a coffee; etc. I also bought cigarettes in smaller packages and did not always carry them with me. I also learned some self-hypnosis (many books available at the library) to help me through the worst of the craving. It worked - so far this is the longest time period that I have not smoked. There are times when the craving moves over me like a giant wave and thats when I resort to the self-hypnosis method I learned. One thing that I feel helped me a lot is that my husband had previously quit smoking and at that time we "cleaned house". We washed walls, curtains, drapes, clothes, steamed -cleaned carpets and upholstery; just everything that could be cleaned was. This was to eliminate the smell and nicotine as much as possible. It is a lot of work but well worth it. Good luck to us all!
- Barbara
November 21, 2009 2:47 p.m.
This blog has helped me on my journey to quit smoking tremendously. The advice here is creative and very specific. I just added your page to my blogroll at www.diaryofasmoker.wordpress.com.
- Adie Angrist
November 17, 2009 6:46 p.m.
Hi, I'm a student at Metro State of Denver. I'm researching a new product possibility; the product would be a "Quit Smoking" aide that offers a stepping down approach. I am a former smoker myself but I'm addicted to Commit lozenges and they contain nicotine. I would still buy them if they had zero mg of nicotine but they don't offer that. I would like to market a product that does. Anyways, I made this survey for my research project and it would really help me if anyone could take it [smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers are all welcome] Thanks so much. -- Casey Here's the link to the survey. http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/206243/r2zgt
- Casey
November 11, 2009 8:12 a.m.
I tried to quit smoking for years - I actually succeeded a few time to stop completely - but after a week of not smoking I developed sever sores inside my mouth - and on my tongue - I found a lot of other people who experienced the same affect after quitting. Anyone know how I can quit and not suffer from the bad side effect?
- Shalom
November 10, 2009 7:43 p.m.
where do i get this focas audio?
- jo
November 9, 2009 3:53 p.m.
I have several friends and family that swear by the "Focus & Quit" audio series created by Focus My Health. I quit smoking years ago but if I still did I would definately try this product.
- Tim
6 comments posted