Casper has been a resident of Southwest Florida since 2014. Because he is in long-term recovery himself, the owner of Recovery Coaching Elite is a frequent keynote speaker, sharing coping strategies gained through years of experience, both personally and professionally. Recently, he became a certified facilitator of the QuitSmart program developed by Dr. Robert Shipley, founder of the Duke Stop Smoking Clinic.

“In a study at five U.S. Air Force bases, 66 percent of QuitSmart participants were still smoke-free after six months, compared to 16 to 30 percent of those in other stop-smoking programs,” Casper asserts, adding that he has heard people say that quitting smoking was as difficult as recovering from heroin addiction.

QuitSmart is a three-step program with several coping mechanisms, such as switching to low-nicotine cigarette brands, using nicotine patches or chewing gum, working with a physician that can prescribe anxiety medications like Wellbutrin or Chantix, finding cigarette substitutes, engaging in a guided meditation designed to help people resist cravings, and even writing letters to friends and family asking for support.