How to Quit Smoking: Interview with Elias Klemperer, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health

Elias Klemperer is a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Vermont. He is funded by the national institutes of health and studies with Dr. John Hughes in the Vermont Center on Behavior & Health (http://www.med.uvm.edu/behaviorandhealth/home).

His major research focus is on the role of nicotine reduction among cigarette smokers who want to quit someday but not now. Mr. Klemperer has conducted a large national research study on brief interventions to increase quitting among smokers who are not yet ready to quit. He has also examined the role of smokers’ confidence, motivation, nicotine dependence, and relationship with their counselor as predictors of quitting.

Mr. Klemperer recently received the University of Vermont’s Most Innovative Research Award for unique, progressive, and cutting edge research as well as the National Institute on Drug Abuse director’s award to present his research at the 2017 College on Problems of Drug Dependence conference.

Mr. Klemperer is funded by the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA to conduct his dissertation on nicotine and cigarette reduction for smokers not ready to quit.

Mr. Klemperer also provides psychotherapy for clients with tobacco use and other substance use disorders at the Vermont Psychological Services clinic in Burlington, Vermont.

In this interview, he answers the following questions:

What advice do you have for smokers who want to quit now?
What advice do you have for smokers who want to quit someday but aren’t sure if they’re ready to quit now?
Is it better to quit abruptly (cold turkey) or cut down to quit (reduce before quitting)?
Is using e-cigarettes a good way to quit regular cigarettes?
How can I encourage a friend or family member to quit?
What kind of smoking research is happening at the University of Vermont?