Hi Sillygirl,

I think you know yourself well and your thinking that medications may not be the answer sounds right. You want relief, but not to be drowsy and numb. You want to conquer this, work toward lasting relief.

There are ways to find inexpensive therapy. But I'm wondering...you have a pdoc, so does that mean you have medical coverage? If you do, then you probably do have coverage for therapy.

Your pdoc is a place to start; ask him about psychologists he might know about, clinics, etc. And if you do have insurance coverage, you may need to use one of 'their' psychologists, so you may want to check there too.

Another resource is good old Google: Here is a site that I like that is about therapy and was written by the therapist: http://www.kellerphd.com/psy.html. Here is a site that has a good question/answer section about therapy: www.aboutpsychotherapy.com.

You can also search for training institutes in your area that may have clinics that offer inexpensive therapy or can refer you to therapists in your community: http://www.div39outreach.org/ is one site where you can search by location (state). http://www.apsa.org/HOME/tabid/288/Default.aspx is another site that might be helpful.

This site has a guided meditation called Secret Garden that is very relaxing; it is 20 minutes, but feels like 5 minutes: www.meditainment.com. If you like that and might want to do more, this site has tapes and CD's you can order. I borrowed my therapist's tapes to try and liked them, then I ordered from them: http://www.wholeperson.com/index.html

You are worth any costs involved. It is an investment in you and your future. You'll learn things about yourself that will benefit you the rest of your life and will make life so much better for you.

I wish you great success!

ECHOES