Posted by andrew on 15/2/2009, 5:35 pm, in reply to "Adam - background/targets"

Hi Adam The encouraging thing is that you seem to be well organised. Tackling both desensing and self-confidence is good. You said "The first challenge I've set myself is being able to go in a bowl with a stranger nearby (if not right beside me...)" The point of desensing is to start at a safe level, and then by small steps to up the ante. When you get comfortable at the new level, the next step should contain the same little bit of anxiety as the first step did. A friend staying to chat. Remember that this is mainly politeness; he would feel it rude to walk out, but also does not necessarily want to hang around in a toilet. So you let him off the hook by saying something like: "dont wait for me, I'll catch you up." "dont wait for me, go get the drinks in, I'll catch you up." Paul McKenna: anything that increases self-cpnfidence is useful in this game. cheers Andrew

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