Quit Center LLC is offering group sessions online to persons that want to quit smoking or vaping. The program was conceived by a 50 year smoker, and later developed into the online program that you see here. At its core, the Quit Center addresses the smoking addiction in ways that other methods have not done. Because of its unique approach Quit Center offers the best chances of success, and with the added benefit no anxiety.
The Quit Center program utilizes your own natural healing abilities to facilitate a permanent cessation to their addiction. We don’t recommend patches, drugs, replacement habits, hypnotists, gummies, or magic pills. Our program initiates incremental lifestyle changes that get you addiction free in a sustainable way!
Founder / CEO
I didn’t start out my career thinking that I would create a better way to quit smoking, or build an entire company around that concept. Where I started is much more mundane. As a 12 year-old I started smoking for the same reason that most young kids do – it made me look cool. Fifty years, and three children later I was still trying to quit, and I looked far less cool. I had pressure from everywhere. My kids would come home from school and cry about a movie they just saw in health class about the horrific effects of smoking. Other family members would pressure me. My doctor, my coworkers, and all my friends would put pressure on me to quit.
But smoking was part of my life, and I couldn’t imagine myself being without my cigarettes. Over fifty years I tried everything to quit. Patches, Gum, Chantix, Cold Turkey. Heck, I even tried a hypnotist. That’s how desperate I was. Everything I tried just gave me anxiety. I would quit – for an hour – and then start again. I must have quit 347 times. I heard that quitting smoking was as hard as quitting heroin.
I couldn’t find anything that worked for me, so I started to research the problem. There were volumes written about the topic, but everywhere the evidence always pointed to failure. Nearly 90% of attempts to quit – FAIL. I saw one common trait among ALL the existing methods. They all start you off by saying “Pick a day to quit”, which just magnifies the anxiety for people trying to quit. That was my epiphany. Let me try quitting by starting in a different place. Maybe I could find a way to quit without all the anxiety.
My new approach worked for me. Simple, without anxiety.
So I assembled a terrific team of people, and I got some guidance from really smart people that have devoted their careers to helping people quit. Together we formalized the model. We knew that if we recreated my initial result it would mean that we could make a significant contribution to the lives of potentially millions of people that just can’t find a way to save their health.
For our clinical trial we picked only hard-core smokers. The result of that trial was far better than anything else out there! We got 33% of our participants to quit at the end of the 8 -week program. If that weren’t exciting enough, when we tested for recidivism eight weeks later, we got an even bigger surprise – not one of them had gone back to smoking AND another 10% had quit as the result of our program! In all the literature about cessation that just doesn’t happen. I had found a better method!
That brings us to today. We have a goal to help hundreds of thousands of people shake off their addiction and we’re on our way to doing it.
Staff Clinician
Claire is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who received her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine from Boston University. Prior to her affiliation with Quit Center LLC, Claire worked in addiction treatment centers helping those suffering with addiction issues find recovery and healing. Claire also maintains a private practice where she works with people who struggle with addiction, and those seeking help for depression, anxiety or trauma. On the weekends you can find her on her couch with a good book and her cat or rollerblading through the parks of South Florida. Her favorite meal is any that includes ice cream and particularly those shared with friends. Claire considers herself a perpetual optimist, which is why she was drawn to Quit Center and their persistence in helping people overcome their addiction to nicotine. Claire’s work at Quit Center will include working with client questions and issues, as well as being a key contributor on our Research & Development Board, helping to insure that we maintain the most effective technology.
Government Liaison
Dr. Kevin G. Berry brings over 40 years of hands-on leadership in the U.S. Military Health System—ranging from front-line pediatric and combat casualty care to enterprise-wide transformation. As CEO of a multi-state integrated military medical and dental delivery network, and Joint Task Force Medical Operations Leader in the National Capital Region, he successfully unified Army, Navy and Air Force medicine under a single command structure. His systematic approach to clinical-business development and program management consistently drove operational excellence, clinical quality, and compliance across high-stakes environments.
An expert change agent and R&D portfolio manager, Dr. Berry has overseen research and development budgets exceeding $50 million, led the Defense Health Agency’s healthcare modernization initiatives, and served as principal advisor on telemedicine, augmented-reality telementoring, and AI/ML–driven research pipelines. He evaluated and improved high-reliability organization models at Walter Reed, modernized Medicare Advantage clinical audits for CMS, and pioneered human-centered design in health-IT systems—always with an eye toward making complex change stick in large institutions.
A prolific thought leader and grant-winning investigator, Dr. Berry has co-authored more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications, two textbook chapters, and secured over $6 million in sponsored research funding. Dr. Berry earned his MD from Georgetown University and holds board certification in general pediatrics, a retired California medical license, and active credentials in human research ethics and high-reliability systems.
Government Liaison
A continual learner, General Pollock became a certified nurse anesthetist soon after her graduation from the University of Maryland. She has a Master’s degree in Business, a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and a Master’s degree in National Security and Strategy. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland.
While in the Army, she served as the Commander of the US Army Medical Command and the Acting Surgeon General of the Army (the first woman, non- physician to have this role in any of the military services). General Pollock was the 22 nd Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. Challenged by Senator Inouye to address the needs of the “blinded troopers” her passion became serving the vision impaired community.
In 2008, she established the Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration and was an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Nursing. In 2011, General Pollock became a Harvard University Fellow in their “Advanced Leadership Initiative” program.
General Pollock serves on multiple advisory boards and is the owner of Pollock Associates, LLC. General Pollock established Elevivo, LLC, a software education platform addressing the needs of the visually impaired. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Academy of Nursing and certified as a Board Director by the National Board of Corporate Directors. Her passion is improving the quality of lives of those with vision loss. To escape and rejuvenate she spends time hiking and birding with her husband, Doug and her service dog, Nigel or riding Rio, a Friesian-quarter horse.
So you decided to stop smoking! You’ve Made a Big Step Just Getting Here.
Together We’ll Get You Off Cigarettes and Vaping the Easy Way!