My life as a smoker was miserable. My entire day revolved around smoking. What I did, who I did things with, where I went, how I felt.
Michelle Binford in Guatemala went from being a smoker to a happy non-smoker using Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking. Now she helps the smokers of Guatemala quit smoking with the method
“My life as a smoker was miserable. My entire day revolved around smoking. What I did, who I did things with, where I went, how I felt.”
John Dicey, Worldwide CEO & Senior Therapist, Allen Carr’s Easyway, interviews Michelle Binford, Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking Guatemala
John: Tell us a little bit about your life as a smoker Michelle?
Michelle: My life as a smoker was miserable. My entire day revolved around smoking. What I did, who I did things with, where I went, how I felt. I craved cigarettes all day but I tried to control my smoking which made it even worse. I had a terrible smoker’s cough, trouble breathing, phlegm and allergies all of which made me attempt to quit smoking many times.
I had tried quitting with nicotine patches and gum a few times and even on the occasions that I lasted a while I felt so miserable. Every single day I wished I could smoke a cigarette and at some point, I would start smoking again.
John: So how did you come across Allen Carr’s Easyway?
Michelle: I went to a friend´s birthday party, and she was having a blast and I noticed that she wasn’t smoking anymore (she was always a big smoker). I asked her what had happened and she told me about how she went to an Allen Carr’s Easyway seminar in Mexico. The way she described it made me really skeptical but I could see her enjoying life and not missing smoking so next time I went to Mexico I booked a place on the seminar.
After the seminar I came out feeling pretty good, there was no bad withdrawal symptoms and I felt great! After a few months of being a happy non-smoker I decided I wanted to learn about the method because for the first time I felt completely free.
John: How did you get involved in the organization?
Michelle: I searched “Allen Carr” on the web and found the organization´s website and wrote an e-mail expressing my desire to become an Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking franchisee/therapist. It was a tough selection process but eventually I was accepted.
The training was even tougher than the selection process! I thought I was going to receive some magical formula or something but to my surprise I just got pages and pages of information that I had to learn. Studying the method took some time, loads of motivation, structure, discipline and effort. But it is manageable and so worthwhile!
John: What’s it like being an Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking Therapist?
Michelle: Being an Allen Carr therapist is wonderful. Being able to deliver an amazing method to people who want to quit smoking is a privilege and helping people stop smoking is a wonderful feeling.
Being part of the Allen Carr team feels like being part of a huge family with a great head office team in London who are kind and always have motivating and supportive words whenever needed and my colleagues from all over the world are always there if I needed. Spending time with them all out our annual international conference is a lovely, bonding, extraordinary experience. We are all so happy in our work.
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