Quit Smoking Tips Home Remedies: Psychotherapeutic Self-Help Techniques

Quit Smoking - this is considered by many as a difficult undertaking. However, it is usually not only the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal that make quitting difficult. These can be managed with medication or nicotine replacement products. Rather, psychosocial dynamics play a significant role. There can be numerous social factors that encourage consumption and make quitting difficult – for example, group belonging and sociability through smoking in one’s environment. Especially when psychological factors also act as strong driving forces – in particular, so-called "maladaptive schemas", i.e. dysfunctional cognitive and behavioral patterns, can fuel consumption unfavorably when corresponding triggers are present.

>> Learn more about: Quit Smoking Medication

The reasons for a difficult withdrawal are therefore complex and cannot be reduced merely to possible withdrawal symptoms. The so-called biopsychosocial model suggests that at least three levels should be considered, on which favorable, mutually interacting factors for smoking initiation, continuation, and finally a difficult cessation can be found. A nicotine abuse can thus also be understood holistically.

Psychotherapeutic methods address such psychosocial aspects – one example is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). And although it can never replace professional psychotherapy, certain self-help techniques can be derived from it.

Self-Help Techniques from Psychotherapy as Home Remedies for Quitting Smoking

Home remedies for quitting smoking are generally understood as simple household methods and self-medication measures. More generally, however, a home remedy can also be a form of a self-applied solution or aid at home for quitting smoking.

In this sense, self-help techniques from psychotherapy are considered home remedies, with the focus being less on "self-medication" and more on "self-intervention".

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a school of psychotherapy that provides effective support in cases of nicotine addiction and quitting smoking, and can create sustainable solutions. Within its approach, techniques can be derived that clients can implement themselves to support abstinence – and these can help to loosen, break up, and ultimately modify rigid and unfavorable consumption and behavior patterns along with their underlying conditions.

Situational Behavioral Analysis: SORKC Model

In order to sustainably modify/end one’s consumption behavior, it seems essential to understand which triggers fuel consumption and why they do so. It may also be helpful to reflect on the psychosocial added value that smoking provides – consumption can be understood functionally here. Those who smoke usually experience immediate positive consequences from their consumption – so-called reinforcers. In this sense, smoking is considered a "teleological phenomenon", a behavior that is purpose-/goal-driven and reinforced simply by the purpose to be fulfilled (understood in the psychosocial sense).

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, behavioral analysis at the beginning is considered a key moment for the further application of therapeutic methods. A distinction can be made between so-called contextual/vertical and situational/horizontal behavioral analysis.*1

With a behavioral analysis, one can first gain an overview of the complex interactions between cognition, emotion, and behavior, whereby psycho-social dynamics can become clearer. - © Image: AdobeStock

In particular, the horizontal behavioral analysis can provide a fairly clear overview of the extent to which consumption behavior is related to situational triggers, individual maladaptive schemas, and the consequences associated with consumption. From this, specific methods can then be derived that address different aspects and provide support in quitting smoking.

The SORKC Model in Quitting Smoking

A recognized concept of horizontal behavioral analysis is the so-called SORKC model.*2 This model is mentioned to show the extent to which the intended self-help techniques can be derived, and above all, why and how they work.

The SORKC scheme consists of five variables:

• Stimulus (S): Includes situation-related (key) stimuli that precede a (consumption) behavior.
• Organism (O): Includes the individual’s biological and learning history background – this also includes core beliefs, expectations, and key needs of the mentioned maladaptive schemas which, when activated/avoided/overcompensated by a trigger in the stimulus variable, lead to rigid reactions in the reaction variable.
• Reaction (R): Here all observable (primarily visible behavior) and non-observable (cognitive, emotional, and physiological) reactions are included, which, due to factors from the organism variable, follow situational stimuli. The classification into so-called maladaptive coping styles (flight, fight, freeze) can indicate whether maladaptive schemas were avoided, overcompensated, or activated.
• Contingency (K): Expresses the frequency of the co-occurrence of situation, behavior, and consequences.
• Consequence (C): All rewards and punishments resulting from the behavior.

What are maladaptive schemas?

Maladaptive schemas are a concept developed by Jeffrey Young, which can be described as follows:

According to Jeffrey Young, maladaptive schemas can arise when emotional core needs in childhood and adolescence are repeatedly unmet or frustrated. Clinically and empirically, 18 different schemas have been confirmed, which are assigned to five domains (or themes) that in turn reflect the frustrated core need.
The schema is thus established during early individual development as an enduring and pervasive pattern of feelings, thoughts, memories, and bodily sensations in the sense of an inner "image" of the real conditions in early biography. This pattern can intensify in the course of further development and continues to guide behavior when activated, even if external conditions and relationships change."*3

According to therapie.de, maladaptive schemas are also described as:

"A schema encompasses enduring, unfavorable patterns of feelings, thoughts, and memories that guide behavior in a specific situation. The schemas can relate to the affected person themselves (self-schemas) or to their relationships with other people (relationship schemas). They have an unfavorable impact on the person’s life and are therefore also referred to as ‘life traps’."*4

In addition, it can be noted that such schemas largely determine the perception of situational content.

Through unfavorable core beliefs, expectations (toward oneself or others), and key needs, such maladaptive schemas can represent action-guiding factors on the Organism Variable. The corresponding observable and non-observable "maladaptive reactions" (flight, fight, freeze), which arise from the unfavorable, action-guiding core beliefs, expectations, and needs of the schemas, are finally found in the Reaction Variable. The key stimuli, through which maladaptive schemas are activated, avoided, or overcompensated, can in turn be clarified in the Stimuli Variable in relation to the situation.

With this concept, dysfunctional behavioral patterns can be linked to their key stimuli, the unfavorable cognitive and emotional components activated/avoided/overcompensated through them, and the subsequent consequences. This makes it possible to recognize and understand what fuels and guides one’s consumption behavior in the case of smoking, and where modification approaches can be applied.

Here is now a list of the 18 maladaptive schemas – with their respective typical Core Beliefs (CB), Expectations (E), and Needs (N), as they can be captured in the Organism Variable*5:

• Abandonment/Instability
  - Others are unreliable/unstable. (CB)
  - I will be abandoned/left alone. (E)
  - Attachment and stability (N)
• Mistrust/Abuse
  - Others are not honest, exploit me/are manipulative/hurt me. (CB)
  - I will be lied to/betrayed/humiliated/exploited/manipulated. (E)
  - Safety and trust (N)
• Emotional Deprivation
  - Others cannot provide emotional support/do not give care, attention/understanding/protection. (CB)
  - I will be rejected/not understood/not protected. (E)
  - Affection, empathy and protection (N)
• Defectiveness/Shame
  - I am defective/bad/unwanted/inferior/incapable. (CB)
  - I will not be loved, respected, included; I will be disadvantaged, humiliated. (E)
  - Love, respect and self-worth (N)
• Social Isolation/Alienation
  - I am fundamentally different from others. (CB)
  - I will not belong/be excluded. (E)
  - Belonging, integration into community (N)
• Dependence/Incompetence
  - I cannot cope without help. (CB)
  - It will overwhelm me; I cannot manage without support. (E)
  - Independence, competence (N)
• Vulnerability to Harm or Illness
  - Something bad is about to happen. (CB)
  - I will be in danger, helpless. I will lose control. (E)
  - Safety, realistic risk assessment (N)
• Enmeshment/Undeveloped Self
  - Without extreme closeness to others, I am lost. (CB)
  - Without attachment, I will be disoriented. (E)
  - Autonomy, identity, personal goals (N)
• Failure
  - I am incapable, stupid, inferior in performance. (CB)
  - Future failure is unavoidable. (E)
  - Success experiences, self-confidence (N)
• Entitlement/Grandiosity
  - I am superior to others, I have special rights. (CB)
  - Others should submit to my needs. Success, power, and fame. (E)
  - Recognition of realistic limits, empathy (N)
• Insufficient Self-Control/Self-Discipline
  - I may give in to impulses; avoid effort. (CB)
  - Others will take care of it. (E)
  - Self-control, greater frustration tolerance (N)
• Subjugation
  - I must submit/adapt to others to avoid conflict. (CB)
  - If I show my own needs/emotions, I will be rejected or punished. (E)
  - Assertiveness, autonomy (N)
• Self-Sacrifice
  - The needs of others are more important than mine. (CB)
  - If I take care of myself, I feel guilty/will be abandoned. (E)
  - Balance between caring for others and self-care (N)
• Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking
  - Only through achievement, adaptation, or attractiveness am I valuable. (CB)
  - If I am not liked, I will be rejected. (E)
  - Stable self-worth, authenticity (N)
• Negativity/Pessimism
  - Life is full of dangers, disappointments, and losses. (CB)
  - Bad things will happen, good things are deceptive. (E)
  - Optimism, hope, balance of positive and negative (N)
• Emotional Inhibition
  - Showing feelings is dangerous or embarrassing. (CB)
  - Criticism, rejection, shame when expressing spontaneously. (E)
  - Freedom to express emotions, spontaneity (N)
• Unrelenting Standards/Hypercriticalness
  - I must always be perfect and meet high standards. (CB)
  - Criticism or punishment for mistakes. (E)
  - Acceptance, serenity, unconditional self-worth (N)
• Punitiveness
  - Mistakes must be severely punished – in myself and others. (CB)
  - No leniency; punishment is necessary. (E)
  - Forgiveness, tolerance, compassion (N)

Just as the individual intensity of a specific schema (ranging from mild expressions to pathological forms) can vary, so can the combination of multiple simultaneously occurring schemas differ greatly between individuals.*6

What are maladaptive coping styles?

"Maladaptive" means something like "poorly adapted" or "inadequate", whereby a certain dysfunctionality is implied for maladaptive schemas when it comes to coping with and dealing with, for example, stressful situations. Although dysfunctional coping behavior is implied, this is nevertheless distinguished from the schema itself and is understood more in the sense of being schema-driven.

Going back to Jeffrey Young, three typical maladaptive coping styles are distinguished, which – as mentioned – do not belong to the respective schema but follow as reactions to it and can also change over the course of life:

• Avoidance (Flight): The flight style refers to coping by avoiding or escaping the full activation of the maladaptive schema (EMS). Typical examples include openly avoiding or fleeing from people, places, activities, or situations that could trigger the schema, as well as actions that numb or distract from the unpleasant emotional arousal – such as drug use, other compulsive behaviors, self-injury, or emotional detachment.
• Overcompensation (Fight): The fight style means that a person responds to the threat of schema activation by, in a sense, "striking back" against the core message of the EMS. That is: thinking, feeling, and acting as if the opposite of the schema were true. More recent authors have also called this coping style “schema inversion.” Example: Someone with a Defectiveness/Shame schema might overcompensate by showing arrogance and behaving as if they were superior to others (the opposite of feeling inferior).
• Surrender/Subjugation (Freeze): The freeze style involves resignation to the schema – the core message of the EMS is accepted, and one behaves as if it were true (core beliefs, expectations, and accompanying emotions and cognitions are thus activated). Example: Someone with an Abandonment/Instability schema might surrender by seeking or entering insecure or unstable relationships (believing that no partner will ever consistently provide reliable emotional and physical availability). Such individuals may believe they "shouldn’t expect anything better." Alternatively, surrender may also occur in an otherwise healthy relationship – for example, by constantly seeking reassurance or controlling the partner because they "believe" the schema that says: "Sooner or later, my partner will leave me" – even if there is no objective evidence for this.*7

For smoking behavior, the flight style seems particularly relevant, since consumption can be understood here in the sense of an "escape" or "distraction" from the full activation of the EMS and as a "dampening" of unpleasant emotional arousal through the calming effect of nicotine; although there are conceivable cases in which smoking behavior could also be explained by the other two maladaptive coping styles.

Fictitious Example of a Smoker

With a fictitious example of a football player who inevitably reaches for a cigarette in certain stressful situations, it will now be illustrated how the SORCK schema can be used to understand a horizontal behavioral analysis, how psychosocial dynamics that promote smoking can be clarified, and how possible self-help techniques could ultimately be derived.

Important: Although this can in no way be compared to professional cognitive-behavioral therapy, it may nevertheless serve superficially as guidance, a kind of advisor.

H, the football player who cannot quit smoking:

"H", a gifted football player, repeatedly turns to cigarettes – especially after his team’s defeats, his consumption gets out of hand. - © Image: AdobeStock

• Stimulus (S): H’s football team loses an important match, and H missed a crucial scoring chance.
• Organism (O): H never really learned to deal with defeat and loss. At school, he was disadvantaged by a teacher, and when he expressed the wish to study one day, he was told he would never succeed. Today, H often feels incapable and that he has not achieved anything in life. In football, however, he feels particularly validated by success and appreciates being respected by his teammates for his performance – this gives him self-confidence and self-esteem. Nevertheless, he is usually very nervous before a game, fears he might perform poorly, often thinks he is inferior to his opponents, and worries about what might happen if his team loses "because of him" (e.g., if he scores an own goal by mistake). This actually happened the previous season, after which his coach harshly criticized him in front of his teammates. Outside football, he occasionally spends time with teammates, some of whom smoke and say it relaxes them.
• Reaction (R): After the defeat, H feels ashamed, perceives himself as incapable during the post-game review with the coach, and thinks he will fail again in the next match. He sees himself as a bad player and fears he may now be unwanted in the team because he missed the scoring chance. He also experiences palpitations and nervousness. Afterwards, he refuses to join his teammates for dinner and just wants to leave the football field. At home, he reaches for a cigarette to distract himself with the effect of nicotine, and the more he smokes, the more he seems to relax.
• Contingency (K): Avoiding contact with teammates and smoking has already proven to be a strategy for H after several defeats.
• Consequence (C): After such defeats, avoiding contact with his teammates helps H to escape further negative feelings and thoughts. Moreover, smoking allows him to distract himself and relax due to the nicotine effect. This helps dampen his discomfort, negative feelings, and thoughts. In the long run – and H knows this – smoking could lead to declining performance in football and health consequences. But for now, this strategy still works for him.

Here, specific key stimuli, maladaptive schemas, and a maladaptive coping style can be related within the SORCK schema to certain consequences that reinforce smoking behavior:

© Image: Snuzone

This shows what precedes the act of smoking, how smoking is interwoven in a network of psychosocial dynamics, and how smoking behavior is fueled as a maladaptive coping style (with accompanying positive consequences).

From this, a so-called behavioral and a cognitive self-help measure focusing on quitting smoking can now be derived. To keep it concrete, the example of H will continue to serve as the reference.

>> You might also be interested in: Whether in ice hockey or football – why is snus so popular in sports?

A Behavioral Method: Targeted Need Fulfillment Instead of Smoking

Smoking provides H, in the sense of a maladaptive flight coping style, with the possibility to numb unpleasant emotional arousal. Smoking can numb in this way because nicotine leads to a slightly euphoric, relaxing mood – for more details, see: Snus Effects.

As H becomes aware of the intertwined functioning of his smoking behavior within the SORKC model, he can take the next step by focusing on the needs of his maladaptive schemas (in the organism variable) and specifically looking for (observable) possible alternative behaviors (for the reaction variable) that can also satisfy his needs – but more sustainably – leading to a reduction of unpleasant emotional and cognitive components (in the consequence variable).*7

The needs underlying H’s maladaptive schemas are:

• Success experiences, self-confidence
• Love, respect, and self-worth

The key lies in H considering possible (familiar) actions that can fulfill these needs. This may sound quite difficult, and in practice the process of implementing such actions against smoking often appears complex. Moreover, not all core needs may be equally well addressed. Nevertheless, this can present an opportunity for H to consciously use his behavioral repertoire against a maladaptive flight coping style related to smoking.

In H’s case, there are actually three specific activities he already knows from himself, which can easily be used as future (observable) reactions instead of smoking – to counteract the unpleasant emotional and cognitive (non-observable) reactions triggered by a football defeat within the reaction variable. The following hobbies provide H with success experiences, self-confidence, and self-worth in equal measure:

The diagram shows which hobbies give H success experiences, self-confidence, and self-worth. - © Image: Snuzone

Would the satisfaction of needs through the respective hobbies vary in strength, this could also be illustrated by circle segments of different sizes. In this way, one could estimate the potential effectiveness for different cases. Alternatively, an assessment can also be made by assigning points on a scale from 1–10.

Why and how exactly does this behavioral method work?

With the anticipated positive cognitive and emotional consequences that can be achieved through forced need satisfaction with such activities (hobbies), countermeasures are already taken in the reaction variable to balance the maladaptive emotional and cognitive reactions (non-observable) triggered by a football defeat. This makes it possible to specifically replace smoking behavior with alternatives that deprive smoking of its purpose of relaxation and distraction. The positive cognitive and emotional components of need satisfaction counteract the negative ones of the maladaptive schemas and mitigate them (in the consequence variable) in terms of relaxation and distraction as well.

Thus, one can deliberately counteract smoking to "rob" it of its purpose – namely distraction, relaxation, the dampening of unpleasant emotional and cognitive arousal. The deliberately evoked positive cognitive and emotional components through need satisfaction not only fulfill the same purpose as smoking, they even redirect the (non-observable) reactions resulting from the maladaptive schemas into positive ones; negative components therefore disappear. In this way, the maladaptive flight style can be undermined, and the goal-directed smoking behavior can be prevented/stopped in the future. As a result, in the consequence variable a reward analogous to smoking appears, but additionally the punishment through smoking disappears (such as long-term decline in performance, etc.).

Note: H does not thereby fall into a fight coping style, but rather, by satisfying the core needs of his maladaptive schemas, can nip the unfavorable coping reaction "smoking" in the bud and at the same time weaken the core beliefs and expectations of the EMS. In any case, H thereby gains a deceleration of the flight coping style that fuels smoking and, consequently, a healthy alternative to it. Furthermore, through such alternative behaviors that satisfy his core needs, H can reduce a certain psychologically motivated pressure to consume, to which he had conditioned himself through the regularity of the "smoking response" to the "defeat situation" as seen in the contingency variable.

A Cognitive Method: The 7-Column Technique

Another self-help technique is the so-called 7-column technique. This is referred to as a cognitive method, as it specifically focuses on the cognitive components of maladaptive coping styles. In principle, within the framework of a thought protocol, so-called "automatic thoughts" are identified, which appear as a result of a (partial) activation of maladaptive schemas in the reaction variable. Furthermore, in column format, supporting "evidence," "counter-evidence," and "alternative, balanced thoughts" are collected – with the goal of reducing the emotional consequences of the "automatic thoughts".*8

In the case of H, such automatic thoughts are: "Having failed, failing again in the future, and being unwanted in the team." Applied to this, the 7-column technique looks as follows:

© Image: Snuzone

Why and how exactly does this method work?

As seen in column 7, this method aims to relax and decelerate maladaptive reactions. What smoking achieves – namely dampening shame, feelings of incapability, and nervousness – can also be achieved with the 7-column technique. The effectiveness of this cognitive method can thus be described similarly to the mentioned behavioral one, in that smoking is deprived of its purpose. The maladaptive flight reaction of smoking is neutralized because it is no longer needed. For if relaxation and distraction/reduction of cognitive and emotional arousal are achieved otherwise, the necessity to smoke disappears – one no longer has to "smoke away what can dissipate otherwise."

Unlike the behavioral method, this cognitive method can be internalized in such a way that it takes effect faster in the reaction variable through purely cognitive processes. In fact, it is better to say: [...] through a metacognitive overall process, as this is a reflection process that overlays an ingrained thought pattern on occurring thoughts, which becomes effective in the sense of metacognitive monitoring and self-regulation.

Combination of Behavioral & Cognitive Self-Help Techniques as the Key to Success

Both mentioned self-help techniques – when applied in combination – now provide H with the necessary tools to finally say goodbye to the unfavorable "smoking response" in the familiar stressful situations of a football defeat.

Nota bene: The two derived self-help techniques can help as home remedies for quitting smoking in the way described, but they in no way replace professional psychotherapy. The goal of this article was rather to raise awareness that quitting smoking is not so difficult merely because of possible withdrawal symptoms, but that psychosocial dynamics can also play a key role. The described situational behavioral analysis can therefore only be understood as guidance, intended to encourage self-reflection. The self-help techniques derived from it can thus only be understood as advice.

>> You might also be interested in: Smoking Cessation Made Easy(er)

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Sources (last accessed on 08.09.25):

*1 https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/verhaltensanalyse
*2 https://flexikon.doccheck.com/de/SORKC-Modell
*3 https://schematherapie-rhein-ruhr.de/schemata-nach-j-young/
*4 https://www.therapie.de/psyche/info/therapie/schematherapie/schemata/
*5 Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema Therapy: A Practitioner’s Guide. Beltz Verlag.
*6 https://www.beltz.de/fileadmin/beltz/leseproben/978-3-621-28224-6.pdf
*7 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-guide-to-schema-therapy/from-core-emotional-needs-to-schemas-coping-styles-and-schema-modes/721F16740657C4AD7C054AD8A7E3D9B1 ; in particular: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/721F16740657C4AD7C054AD8A7E3D9B1/9781108927475c1_1-15.pdf/from-core-emotional-needs-to-schemas-coping-styles-and-schema-modes.pdf
*8 https://ulb-dok.uibk.ac.at/download/pdf/7714137.pdf