I have my First CBT Session tomorrow...

[StaceySGMW]

Taking some more steps in helping myself.

Hopefully; I'll be able to 'report' back here in the hopes that it could encourage, or even help another member.

Stacey

[sage]

Great! Do let us know how it went and what it will be like.

[StaceySGMW]

I've just come back now.

Had a lovely woman, mid 40s. She wanted to assess me so she could determine which level of CBT they should put me in at, it was decided level 2.

Anyway...I opened up about my emet, my anxiety, social anxiety and aspergers and how it all affects me. She thought that I had a somewhat good coping mechanism in place and gave me some leaflets on panic and deep breathing. She said that the main root of my anxiety is mainly phobic driven. Preventing me from doing quite a lot.

We spoke about how I always live in the "what if" moment, always planning ahead for the unexpected moments; how it's always a constant worry and never helps with anxiety. Just live in the moment and whatever comes, comes; you won't be able to stop it, you won't die, and with all things, it has it's peak.

She likened it to a beach ball...you try pushing a inflated beach ball down, it just bounces back up; instead of dwelling on things, you're thinking about them. Find a distraction, or something else to occupy yourself with.

We were talking about Brunce Springsteen and Stevie Nicks. Bruce would always use the anxiety for his advantage, gave him adrenaline. Stevie just stopped appearing on stages for years. I don't want it to get to that stage where my fear totally controls me; I don't want to be scared and accept it as a fear. I actually want to do something about this, and help myself, and others if I can do in anyway.

The main thing I learnt from the session was; Don't dwell on things that you don't even know are coming yet, when they do, just accept them at face value. Spend too much time constantly worrying and over-analysing things and you'll never be truly happy.

We also agreed that using sites, and online forums is reinforcing the fear; yes, use it sparingly, but don't sit online 24/7.

So even if one person picked up something from that, or noone; I'd like to carry on using it as a diary almost, just to track my progress

Stacey

[StaceySGMW]

Had my second session today.

I had a new therapist; so today was me 'enrolling'/'inducting' and we properly start next week.

I was just explaining to her that my anxierty/emet is much worse at night; during the day I can always find something to preoccupy myself with, yet at night; the worrying is tenfold

We spoke about what my goals are at the end of the course (approx 6-8 weeks). I said to bring my anxiety/emet down to a level which I feel I can handle, she said the purpose of the course is to not rid you of anxiety, as it is something you can't get rid of. But get rid of your fears instead.

My goals:
- To gain higher self esteem.
- Achieve a normal sleeping pattern.
- Be less afraid at night.
- Definitely pick up a better eating pattern (my diet is mainly bread, crackers and soups).
- Trust myself when eating out.
- The main one is to bring it down to a stage where I feel I can deal with it, which I can handle.

(As said before; I'd like to use this as a memento for myself)

[ckaszyca]

Stacey, I want to thank you for posting. I just joined today and am finding this site helpful. I am trying to find some coping skills that I can use to help me in my situation. Please keep posting and include any coping skills you think may be helpful to someone reading this. Good luck in your journey and congratulations on taking charge of this phobia!

Thanks again!

[KaydeeJayde]

There's an interesting coping strategy that I've been using since my last CBT session in my thread "CBT and Pet Therapy"... It's a long term thing, but it helps me a lot. :-) Welcome, by the way! Hope you find some support here!