Posted by Robin on 26/10/2008, 7:33 pm

Hi all, Just been to London Beginners' Workshop and I have to say that it was great. Firstly, Andrew and Colin quickly put us all at ease and soon we were sharing experiences and were able to laugh about our condition with people who truly understand. Everyone was really nice and all normal people with proper jobs and families, friends, hobbies etc and it was really good enjoying each others company in the bar on both evenings. The desensing sessions are good, although stopping flow after 3 seconds is not the most comfortable thing to do in the world... Thanks to the support of Andrew, Colin and the rest of the group I made significant progress and feel much more positive about the whole thing than I did last week. Driving home I stopped at two services, one with urinals with dividers and one without (though very quiet, only one other bloke in there) but I was able to go both times! I was not remotely close to doing this on my journey to the workshop on Friday, so I can vouch for the fact that workshops make a difference; sure I had a couple of misfires over the course of the weekend, but that's part of the learning process, and it's how you deal with it that matters.... like trying again a couple of minutes later and being successful! So go to a workshop, you won't regret it - I know I need to keep working at it and practising what I've learnt but I feel much more in control and more aware of how to beat this. Thanks again guys, Robin

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