The phone counseling I signed up to do. Just the thought of it is scaring me. I have been up for a while. I woke up very early, or, late, however you want to say it. I am in physical therapy too, for tendonitis. and I'm very triggered being there for some reason. I think I am going to call in sick tomorrow.

[gayleggg]

Counseling can be scary and promote anxiety but take a few deep breaths before you begin and you will be fine. This helps me to ease my anxiety before and event. And as far as physical therapy, try and go. You can't get better by skipping. Good luck.

Hugs to you, sometimes it's when we push our comfort zone that we can feel triggered, but you are doing the right thing. If you need to take a break that's okay too, take it as slow as necessary but keep up with these positive steps.

[Frankbtl]

Hi starrysky,

It would be majorly more concerning if you were real casual about the phone counseling
Your feelings, right now, are saying that you're taking it seriously and that you care about what you'll be doing and the people you'll be talking to, and that can help you make a real difference to people when they need it most, that matters so much.
But let's try to turn those feelings into a tool to help you in moving forward to where you want to be, hey??
Maybe write down some of your concerns and any "worst case scenarios" that are going through your mind.........then they are out there, something real tangible to focus on, and then...........I'd say discuss them with the supervisor/organiser/contact you have there.........my guess is that a lot of those fears will be natural worries for anyone who takes the position seriously, but it may turn out to be really reassuring to hear the advice/answers/support from your contact there who should be real experienced in allaying a lot of those fears in a lot of other newly appointed volunteers.

And no-one could expect you to have all the tools to handle any situations right now, to feel confident about gradually just "getting on with it", but that's OK, that's fine
Training will give you a lot of those tools and equip you a lot more in handling situations.
And there will be support systems in place, even when you've started for however long you're there for.

So.........right now, you are not in "at the deep end", and you're not going to be.........you are going to be so prepared in asking about any concerning situations and getting advice on those, you're going to be getting the training, tools and support to equip you in deciding if this is for you, and you do have a massive chunk of what it takes to make it work for you if you want that..........you do take it seriously, and you do care
And one step at a time, hey??
It's just great that you're giving it a shot, and massive kudos to you for that.
If it works out, fantastic, but equally if it doesn't maybe the process and some of the training could still really benefit you in interacting with some people in your life right now or in the future............
It's all positive starrysky

As for the physical therapy........maybe you could talk to your therapist about how this may be made a little easier for you in whatever ways..........but keep on, and on, and on reminding yourself of the purposes of it/the goals you're reaching for, hey??
AND the achievements you've made, however small/timely they may seem, they are still achievements, they still matter

Alison

Hey everyone. Thank you so much for the support. Last night was a hard night. In terms of PT, I understand what everyone is saying, but I was so stressed that I decided maybe it is not the right place for me at this time, and finding someplace else in replacement of that, would be better. I do realize that it is MY reaction to the place. And i dipped my toes in there. I do think it was out of my comfort zone, and although I know i could have gone on with it. I decided for now, to find someplace else, and continue with the exercises and instructions they did give me.

In terms of the phone counseling, thank you again so much for the support. I am feeling better about it today. My supervisor there is also very nice, and emailed me today and said to feel free to let her know if i have anymore questions or concerns. When i met with her the other day, she let me have a copy of the volunteer manual that she gives out at trainings. I'm going to go over it later.

Alison, you're right, it would most probably be way more concerning if I WASN'T worried about doing a good job.