Posted by Phil on 15/11/2016, 10:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Feedback from the Manchester Follow Up Workshop, November 2016"

Completely agree with Chris and Jamie's comments who have summed up the workshop very eloquently. Having attended the London beginners workshop in May, and left with great intentions, I too was lapsing back into bad habits so was really keen to get back into a routine. This workshop was less formal and less daunting than the beginners and, being a small group, we quickly gelled. As already commented we plan to meet up to continue the progress we made. Andrew and Mark provided excellent guidance and support with regular refreshers on what was taught at the beginners. The de-sensing went well and continued in the Wetherspoons for an hour or so on Saturday evening! It was actually very theraputic for a few blokes to openly discuss AP in a pub, share common experiences and even find aspects of humour in our condition. Since getting back I've gone back to practising with renewed determination helped by Network Rail having kindly renovated the gents in my local train station and put in dividers! I know it's not all plain sailing and had a misfire yesterday. However today I've been 3 times including one time when there was someone else in the toilet and I was on an urgency level of about 6/7. For me, that's real progress. I now fully understand why the trust encourages you to attend a follow up workshop - it's definitely worth it.

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