Swan01- It was my understanding that this forum was set up for us as a free peer support by the Center for us to use with each other. It's monitored for inappropriate posts like most forums are, but I don't think it was intended to be used as a teaching tool by Center staff members. Carolyn has come on from time to time and given us wonderful helpful advice, and I too wish it was more often but it isn't.-- They do have an individual coaching program available, and from what I've heard it's really very good.
I haven't taken any meds since I started the program 7 months ago. I went thru it three times in a row (obsessive? maybe-lol) just to make sure it was reinforced in my head. I was the queen of negative 'what if' thinking and worry, and scared myself constantly with these thoughts. The journaling is what got me to see just how many negative scary thoughts I was thinking. No wonder I was so anxious all the time - I was scaring the crap out of myself. The negative 'what ifs' are no longer a part of my mental vocabulary, and I have replaced these with positive 'what ifs' which now seem more normal to me. I no longer feel a need for any anxiety medication. I'm still connected to the forum, as I still learn something new from all the posts sometimes and enjoy hearing how other people have overcome some of this.
Looking for Veterans of the Program
hi Swan,
I completed the program in December '06, and then went online to this site. At the start of working on the program, my head was too full of "negative stuff", along with panic attacks, anxiety and bouts of depression to even venture anywhere else. Besides that I seemed to have missed the info in the workbook about the website the first time working the program. How? I have no idea, just did. Honestly. for me, it was better to dive right into the program, with no distractions, and just work on it exclusively as a self help program, every day, every opportunity I had.
We're all different, it's just what worked for me.
After completing it the first time through, I got on the website and became very involved for several months,close to a year. I also went to chat, for the first time in my life, and gave and received insight.
Over time, I didn't lose interest, I just got really busy, living, finally.
We travel every few weeks now, I visit with my girlfriends once a week or more (which I didn't do for years- agoraphobia), I now shop in stores instead of online. We drive to our kids' colleges to visit them and I actually do some of the driving now. Yea!!!Hey, I'm out there and it's awesome!!!!
I'm back on here now and then. Probably always will. This program saved my life. When I log in, I check to see if there's any area where I might be able to share my own experiences or insight. Sometimes I'm able to help and many times I get PM's from people who want to have a little more one on one from the "vets".
A lot of us are on here frequently at first, and then our lives begin to slowly fill with activities, work, family, and lots of adventures that we were too full of panic and anxiety and/or depression before to enjoy.
As David said, "you will find this out too" and you WILL LOVE IT!!!
Go work this program with everything you have. Complete it and then complete it again. Every session, every step. Rejoice in each new accomplishment and look forward to all the others!
Cindylou
I completed the program in December '06, and then went online to this site. At the start of working on the program, my head was too full of "negative stuff", along with panic attacks, anxiety and bouts of depression to even venture anywhere else. Besides that I seemed to have missed the info in the workbook about the website the first time working the program. How? I have no idea, just did. Honestly. for me, it was better to dive right into the program, with no distractions, and just work on it exclusively as a self help program, every day, every opportunity I had.
We're all different, it's just what worked for me.
After completing it the first time through, I got on the website and became very involved for several months,close to a year. I also went to chat, for the first time in my life, and gave and received insight.
Over time, I didn't lose interest, I just got really busy, living, finally.
We travel every few weeks now, I visit with my girlfriends once a week or more (which I didn't do for years- agoraphobia), I now shop in stores instead of online. We drive to our kids' colleges to visit them and I actually do some of the driving now. Yea!!!Hey, I'm out there and it's awesome!!!!
I'm back on here now and then. Probably always will. This program saved my life. When I log in, I check to see if there's any area where I might be able to share my own experiences or insight. Sometimes I'm able to help and many times I get PM's from people who want to have a little more one on one from the "vets".
A lot of us are on here frequently at first, and then our lives begin to slowly fill with activities, work, family, and lots of adventures that we were too full of panic and anxiety and/or depression before to enjoy.
As David said, "you will find this out too" and you WILL LOVE IT!!!
Go work this program with everything you have. Complete it and then complete it again. Every session, every step. Rejoice in each new accomplishment and look forward to all the others!
Cindylou
David's response is exactly right. I am a veteran. I completed the program in 2000. I get on line periodically as my work schedule allows. It's important to know that working on yourself is an ongoing adventure that gets easier and easier with time and perseverance. New challenges come along because that's life, but now you have the tools, the strength and the energy to move forward and push through.
Healing is not the absence of anxiety. It is living life knowing you can handle it and handle anything that comes your way. It's no longer being afraid of anxious feelings. (You don't have to like them. I don't know anyone who does.) It's a welcoming of "what is" and dealing with it or letting it go - whichever is best for you to do in that moment. It's a shift in attitude toward your challenges.
Feeling anxiety gets less and less. It doesn't last as long when you do experience it. You learn to allow it to pass through you - as all emotions were meant to do. You don't let it ruin your days, weeks, months and years. You recover quickly and move on with your plans. You have more peaceful moments and you find it easier to stay present.
Soothing yourself and loving yourself every step of the way is power. Judging yourself will always drag you down and keep you stuck. Recognize judgment as self sabotage and use your stop sign to end this defeated attitude. Just because you hear a voice in your head doesn't mean you have to follow its lead. "I hear you but I do not have to follow." (Leonard Jacobson) You will learn to not have "discussions" with yourself anymore - with that voice that scares you. It's a wasted effort and just keeps it coming back.
This program will open doors to other things that you will recognize as very helpful. It's all on the road to healing.
Healing is not the absence of anxiety. It is living life knowing you can handle it and handle anything that comes your way. It's no longer being afraid of anxious feelings. (You don't have to like them. I don't know anyone who does.) It's a welcoming of "what is" and dealing with it or letting it go - whichever is best for you to do in that moment. It's a shift in attitude toward your challenges.
Feeling anxiety gets less and less. It doesn't last as long when you do experience it. You learn to allow it to pass through you - as all emotions were meant to do. You don't let it ruin your days, weeks, months and years. You recover quickly and move on with your plans. You have more peaceful moments and you find it easier to stay present.
Soothing yourself and loving yourself every step of the way is power. Judging yourself will always drag you down and keep you stuck. Recognize judgment as self sabotage and use your stop sign to end this defeated attitude. Just because you hear a voice in your head doesn't mean you have to follow its lead. "I hear you but I do not have to follow." (Leonard Jacobson) You will learn to not have "discussions" with yourself anymore - with that voice that scares you. It's a wasted effort and just keeps it coming back.
This program will open doors to other things that you will recognize as very helpful. It's all on the road to healing.
"Life is not about comfort. It is about living." Dr. Howard Liebgold