Posted by Chris on 14/11/2016, 9:52 pm
Edited by board administrator 14/11/2016, 10:13 pm

Hi all, So I thought I would post about my experience of the follow up workshop whilst it is fresh in my mind. I had attended the September Manchester workshop and resolved to return to the follow up a couple of months later. On arriving (late!) I was greeted by some familiar faces and some new faces, but in a very relaxed atmosphere. In fact, we sat as a group casually drinking coffee and chatting about some of the browser themes we had covered - this set the tone for the weekend ahead. I won't go into detail of the exact weekend, but it was quite different to the beginners workshop in being far less structured and much more relaxed. There were 5 of us in the group returning for a follow up, but our time frame between beginners and follow up varied from a couple of months to several years. Either way we seemed to gel as a group really quickly! The weekend has far more emphasis on self-help and preparing you to progress alone in the future. At first I found this a little disheartening. I had made unimaginable strides during the beginners workshop and I wanted more of the same, but I soon understood that if this is to be sustained in the long term then I needed the tools, but had to take responsibility for practising myself. For me the follow up workshop was essential to get back on track. I felt a little drained following the beginners and didn't follow up with the practices sessions that I had committed to - the follow up workshop was just the jolt I needed to get me back on track. I left the workshop feeling really pleased that I had returned and felt better equipped to tackle my training, however it was tainted with a little disappointed that I hadn't made the giant strides forwards that I had hoped. Little did I know that the tools and experience I had gained over the weekend were about to pay dividends in a big way only a few hours later! I resolved that on my journey home I would continue to visit and take in any toilets that I passed, and then fluid load ready for the service station that I pass driving home. I fluid loaded (probably more than intended) and resolved to give it a go. For me, using public urinals whilst others are present let alone whilst others were using a urinal was something I had never been successful in a public environment. However as I approached the toilets with an urgency of about 9, I all of a sudden felt a degree of confidence never felt before - I began to think this was going to happen. I walked into the toilets, following another man in. He took up the nearest urinal, so I headed to the far end and went through the drill - and then.....success!!!! I think the best way to describe what this felt like is to put a copy of the email that I sent to Andrew immediately after (pasted below). But suffice to say, this would not have been possible without the follow up workshop. I now can't wait to practice more (I've repeated the success again this evening!) and am looking forward to meeting up with the other guys from the course for further practice. If you're wondering if a follow up workshop is worth it, then I would thorough encourage you to do it! Finally apologies for the language below - there was a lot of adrenaline flowing!!! "I felt the need to send you an immediate email! I decided to continue the desensing on the way home, with some fakes and success using the train toilet. However, I then fluid loaded for a practice at the services which I drive past on the way home. I was at about a 9 for urgency, and in a state of fu#k it, I need to piss. I don't give a crap anymore! I walked in and a man walked in in front of me, but I decided I was in cockpit mode and on a mission. I took up a urinal with probably 5 spaces between us and I slightly turned away. After a couple of seconds delay all of a sudden the flow started - strong and fast. I wanted to punch the air right there and then!!! Another man came and stood between us, so I stopped the flow and started again! What an incredible feeling - I have no previous memory of this situation, absolutely no reference, so I'm just trying to savour the moment! I'm sat in the car, about to head home, but wanted to send you an email to share this success story, that had just made my day, weekend and year all in one go! I will share my thoughts on the whole weekend on the forum, including this note, but for now a huge thank you for everything you do with UKPT. I've got a couple of days of leave next week which I am going to use for desensing and it can't come soon enough now!"

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