Almost everyone who has successfully given up cigarettes could not have done so without the help of some kind of support group. Perhaps that support came from family, or friends, or co-workers; but often smokers find it more helpful to get support from someone with whom they are not too closely connected. For those people, stop smoking programs can be the ideal solution.

A stop smoking program, however, will require far more of its participants than a smoking support group. Designed to prepare smokers with the obstacles they will face when they try to quit, and to provide them with coping techniques in the face of those obstacles, stop smoking programs with the highest success rates to require the participants to undergo counseling.

While both group and individual counseling are offered, the effectiveness of the programs correlate to the depth of the counseling the program members experience, with the most in-depth counseling achieving the highest success rates.

One way to determine the depth of a stop smoking program's counseling services is to find out both how often counseling session take place and how long they last. The American Cancer Society recommends that a stop smoking program should continue at least two weeks, with between four and seven counseling sessions lasting a minimum of twenty minutes to half-an-hour each week. And the counselor should be trained in all aspects of smoking cessation.

Before committing yourself to a particular stop smoking program, check on the cost and if it seems excessive, do a little more research. The Better Business Bureau is a good place to uncover any wrongdoings. If the administrator of a stop smoking program cannot or will not provide you with references from others who have completed the program, consider it a red flag. And simply avoid any stop smoking programs which promise you won't have to do any work.

Those familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous might be comfort able with the stop smoking program Nicotine Anonymous which applies the Twelve Step principles of AA to nicotine addiction. People trying to quit smoking with the help of nicotine-based stop smoking products are welcome at any Nicotine Anonymous meeting, as are people enrolled in other stop smoking programs.

And many Veterans' Administration Hospitals offer stop smoking programs designed to meet the special needs of veterans, who may be coping with some very stressful memories at the same time they are trying to conquer their nicotine addiction.

To find out what stop smoking programs are available in your area, you can contact the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, or local health department.