Allen Carr
Encyclopedia
Allen Carr was an author
of books about quitting smoking
and other psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after 33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoker
.
-born Carr started smoking while doing National Service
aged 18. He qualified as an accountant
in 1958.
Carr finally quit smoking on 15 July 1983, aged 48, after a visit to a hypnotherapist. However, Carr claimed that it wasn't the hypnotherapy
itself that enabled him to quit - "I succeeded in spite of and not because of that visit" and "I lit up the moment I left the clinic and made my way home...". There were two key pieces of information that enabled Allen to quit later that day. First, the hypnotherapist told him smoking was "just nicotine addiction" which Allen had never perceived before that moment i.e. that he was an addict. Second his son John lent him a medical handbook which explained that the physical withdrawal from nicotine is just like an "empty, insecure feeling". He claims that these two realisations crystallised in his mind just how easy it was to stop and so then enabled him to follow an overwhelming desire to explain his method to as many smokers as possible.
: smoking only relieves the withdrawal symptoms from the previous cigarette, which in turn creates more withdrawal symptoms once it is finished. In this way the drug addiction perpetuates itself. He asserted that the "relief" smokers feel on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being "back to normal", is the feeling experienced by non-smokers all the time. So that smokers, when they light a cigarette are really trying to achieve a state that non-smokers enjoy their whole lives. He further asserted that withdrawal symptoms are actually created by doubt and fear in the mind of the ex-smoker, and therefore that stopping smoking is not as traumatic as is commonly assumed, if that doubt and fear can be removed.
At Allen Carr Clinics during quit-smoking sessions, smokers are allowed to continue smoking while their doubts and fears are removed, with the aim of encouraging and developing the mindset of a non-smoker before the final cigarette is extinguished. A further reason for allowing smokers to smoke while undergoing counseling is Carr's belief that it is more difficult to convince a smoker to quit until they understand the mechanism of "the nicotine trap". This is because their attention is diminished while they continue to believe it is traumatic and extremely difficult to quit and continue to maintain the belief that they are dependent on nicotine.
Another assertion unique to Carr's method is that willpower is not required to quit smoking.
His contention was that fear of "giving up" is what causes the majority of smokers to continue smoking, thereby necessitating the smoker's perpetuation of the illusion of genuine enjoyment as a moral justification of the inherent absurdity of smoking in the face of overwhelming medical and scientific evidence of its dangers.
, Anthony Hopkins
, Ashton Kutcher
, Britney Spears
, Ellen DeGeneres
, Charlotte Church
and Mahesh Babu
.
EasyWay has now been released for Nintendo DS
and the iPhone.
All Allen Carr's Clinics are run by dedicated therapists who were once smokers and have used Allen's method to quit smoking. All therapists are Members of the Association of Allen Carr Therapists International (MAACTI).
Carr also wrote a number of other how-to
books on subjects such as losing weight
and stopping alcohol
consumption. The combined publishing effort and global clinic network built him a £120-million fortune.
at the age of 71. The following month he revealed that it was terminal and his life expectancy was about nine months.
Carr said: "Since I smoked my final cigarette, 23 years ago, I have been the happiest man in the world. I still feel the same way today.” Carr wrote to Tony Blair
, urging the UK Government and NHS
to accept his method, saying that the “powerful influence” of lobbyists working for nicotine replacement firms had turned them against him.
Carr died as a result of his lung cancer on 29 November 2006 at his home near Málaga
, Spain
.
Allen Carr was survived by his second wife, Joyce, his four children, two stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of books about quitting smoking
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
and other psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after 33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoker
Chain smoking
Chain smoking is the practice of lighting a new cigarette for personal consumption immediately after one that is finished, sometimes using the finished cigarette to light the next one. It is a common form of addiction.-Causes:...
.
Biography
LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-born Carr started smoking while doing National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
aged 18. He qualified as an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
in 1958.
Carr finally quit smoking on 15 July 1983, aged 48, after a visit to a hypnotherapist. However, Carr claimed that it wasn't the hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
itself that enabled him to quit - "I succeeded in spite of and not because of that visit" and "I lit up the moment I left the clinic and made my way home...". There were two key pieces of information that enabled Allen to quit later that day. First, the hypnotherapist told him smoking was "just nicotine addiction" which Allen had never perceived before that moment i.e. that he was an addict. Second his son John lent him a medical handbook which explained that the physical withdrawal from nicotine is just like an "empty, insecure feeling". He claims that these two realisations crystallised in his mind just how easy it was to stop and so then enabled him to follow an overwhelming desire to explain his method to as many smokers as possible.
Philosophy
Carr teaches that, contrary to their perception, smokers do not receive a boost from smoking a cigaretteCigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
: smoking only relieves the withdrawal symptoms from the previous cigarette, which in turn creates more withdrawal symptoms once it is finished. In this way the drug addiction perpetuates itself. He asserted that the "relief" smokers feel on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being "back to normal", is the feeling experienced by non-smokers all the time. So that smokers, when they light a cigarette are really trying to achieve a state that non-smokers enjoy their whole lives. He further asserted that withdrawal symptoms are actually created by doubt and fear in the mind of the ex-smoker, and therefore that stopping smoking is not as traumatic as is commonly assumed, if that doubt and fear can be removed.
At Allen Carr Clinics during quit-smoking sessions, smokers are allowed to continue smoking while their doubts and fears are removed, with the aim of encouraging and developing the mindset of a non-smoker before the final cigarette is extinguished. A further reason for allowing smokers to smoke while undergoing counseling is Carr's belief that it is more difficult to convince a smoker to quit until they understand the mechanism of "the nicotine trap". This is because their attention is diminished while they continue to believe it is traumatic and extremely difficult to quit and continue to maintain the belief that they are dependent on nicotine.
Another assertion unique to Carr's method is that willpower is not required to quit smoking.
His contention was that fear of "giving up" is what causes the majority of smokers to continue smoking, thereby necessitating the smoker's perpetuation of the illusion of genuine enjoyment as a moral justification of the inherent absurdity of smoking in the face of overwhelming medical and scientific evidence of its dangers.
Easyway
Carr left his accountancy job in 1983 and set up his first Easyway clinic to help other addicts. He wrote ten bestsellers including his 1985 hit The Easy Way To Stop Smoking, which topped the non-fiction book charts in nine countries and remains the highest-selling book on quitting smoking worldwide. The success of the original London clinic, through both word-of-mouth and direct recommendation, has led to a worldwide network of 100 Easyway clinics in 35 countries plus the production of audio CDs and DVDs. Based on their full money-back guarantee, Carr's clinics claim a 95 percent success rate in helping smokers stop. Celebrity clients include Richard BransonRichard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
, Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
and Mahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu born Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni on 9 August 1975 is an Indian film actor from Telugu Cinema. Born to Legendary Telugu actor Superstar Krishna, Mahesh Babu faced the camera at the age of four as a child artist in the movie Needa...
.
EasyWay has now been released for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
and the iPhone.
All Allen Carr's Clinics are run by dedicated therapists who were once smokers and have used Allen's method to quit smoking. All therapists are Members of the Association of Allen Carr Therapists International (MAACTI).
Carr also wrote a number of other how-to
How-to
A how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
books on subjects such as losing weight
Weight loss
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...
and stopping alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
consumption. The combined publishing effort and global clinic network built him a £120-million fortune.
Personal life
In late July 2006 it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at the age of 71. The following month he revealed that it was terminal and his life expectancy was about nine months.
Carr said: "Since I smoked my final cigarette, 23 years ago, I have been the happiest man in the world. I still feel the same way today.” Carr wrote to Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, urging the UK Government and NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
to accept his method, saying that the “powerful influence” of lobbyists working for nicotine replacement firms had turned them against him.
Carr died as a result of his lung cancer on 29 November 2006 at his home near Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Allen Carr was survived by his second wife, Joyce, his four children, two stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Publications
- The Easy Way to Stop Smoking
- The Easy Way to Stop Drinking
- The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently
- Allen Carr's Easy Way for Women to Stop Smoking
- Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol
- Allen Carr's Easyweigh to Lose Weight
- The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying
- The Easy Way to Stop Worrying
- Allen Carr's Easy Way to Be Successful
- The Little Book of Quitting
- The Illustrated Easy Way to Stop Smoking
- Scandal
- Burning Ambition