Posted by Andrew on 26/3/2009, 8:41 am, in reply to "Re: Hello from a new member!"

Hi Chelsea What you did in the restaurant was spot on. We always recommend going to the toilet on arrival (you can fake it, or check your makeup and hair, or wash your hands); the idea is to remove the element of the unknown. Then when you wish to go to pee, you know what you are going into, and do not get the sudden burst of adrenaline when faced with a new situation. "Too hard, too fast" Yep. CBT is a slow and steady process, and usually contains ups and downs. The trick is to take a long term approach, and to be prepared in advance to weather the setbacks. College counselling: you are right that they may well not know about this; take print-outs from our website and the IPA website with you; the latter may carry more weight with them. Point out that "The condition was first researched and defined by Williams and Degenhardt in their paper "Paruresis: a Survey of a Disorder of Micturition" published in the Journal of General Psychology, 1954, 51, 19-29." This was based on research in the USA. The books: the reason for the difference is that Soifer's book has been in print since 2001; Carol's book was published only this year. There is no harm in getting both. Good luck today Andrew

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