Where are you in your recovery?

[herb]

Originally Posted by smash martian

dunno bout cbt tbh-mite help some folks, but not for me-went for it meself bout 13 years ago dunno if its changed any. spent half hour once a week with therapist, he got me to write diary etc and filmed me having social chat with couple of women who worked there, then we watched it back he says-'look basically theres nothing wrong with u, bit nervous to start with but can interact really well', and yeah didnt come across too bad, think he was maybe trying to show me i had nothing to worry bout. but thing was, i knew it was set up situ so cud wing it for 20 minutes. bit like going for interview or something etc, u just endure it knowing its not gonna last long. thing with these sort of step programs i got at cbt is u cant build up to things like dates in stages, its not like a snake phobia or summat lol! where u can look at pictures, see one behind a glass, put hand in and gradually work up to holding one!! so, soooo help it works for some folks but its not for me. whats this TEA thing tho? quite interested in that but dont know much bout it?

I don't think cbt would have helped me at all without the TEA forms and that's why I still use them fairly regularly to stay on top of any anxiety that pops up. Don't know if they were around 13 years ago or not as I was completely unaware of cbt at that time.
The TEA forms are a thought countering exercise that if done over time actually teaches your brain new ways to react in ways that keep the anxiety from coming up in you. It's weird how a few months into doing them I would find myself in a situation that normally threw me out of whack, but now did not feel anxious and it was a weird but good feeling. Needless to say over time this started to happen to me more and more often and now I feel great and 1000 times less anxious in my daily life.
I'd definitely give them a try if you are motivated to do so. They take a commitment but the rewards are well worth the effort in the end. The book we used by sam obitz (www.tao3.com) outlines them nicely and is a short simple book.
Good luck and I hope they are a help to you too