[Beholden]

Well, I'm ready to re-invent myself so I can become as they say, gainfully employed. Boy, that sounds sarcastic doesn't it, but I don't mean it that way, I'm just ready to get off my pity pot....I'm a realist after all.

Is any one else working on career issues in their therapy? I've just restarted with my t. I filled out her intake questions for next session.

Haven't finished writing my answers yet, but I've got time to think about them. One is to "identify three of my major strengths or positive qualities". I'm not sure how to answer that. and then the other biggy is, "What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your life and overcome?"

My life is back on track, depression is in check, I'm living in "Today", I'm ready for some changes, since I'm sort of bored at home not working, and need an income, but I've lost confidence.......I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that

Oh, and one other question is, "What doyou fear about change?" Sounds like Doc John there

Anyway, I'm doing this therapy for me to make me ready to handle the real world again. What the heck is to come now?

[sunrise]

Heygimm, congratulations for getting your life back on track!

I have worked a little on career issue in therapy, but peripherally. I think we have wanted to get other stuff out of the way, but I know my T does like to do more forward-looking stuff.

Also, I saw a career counselor for a while, so she helped me more directly with career issues. I had to do exercises with her like identify my strengths, past successes, and what my fears were about changing careers.

For me, a big impediment to changing careers is fear that I will fail. And if I fail, then I feel I would be stuck in my current life/career, and that would be very depressing to me. I'm not sure how I would handle it. So it makes me scared to try to change. That said, I am moving forward with my plans (taking pre-requisite college courses to go back to school and retrain in a new field) and hope by the time I get to the point of applying for the program and learning if they will accept me or not, I will have figured out a way to handle the potential disappointment/failure. I am afraid I would not be accepted because of my age (this would be a second career for me and I would be competing against much younger people).

Were you able to come up with the positive qualities for yourself and your biggest fear? Good luck with this. I look forward to hearing more about this from you.

[ECHOES]

My work is part of my therapy in how it affects me. I am supervising for the first time and learning to deal with the many and vaious personnel issues. I could not have done this without having T to talk to about the enormous difficulties and struggles I had in the beginning and that sometimes still surface.

[Lemon]

Talking about work is part of my therapy. I was promoted at work a while ago and had a lot of anxiety about supervising people for the first time. It has really helped to talk to T about it. (Echoes sounds like we're going through the same thing). I haven't set specific goals in therapy, but being more confident in my abilities at work and the interpersonal relationships that go on there is a common theme.

I have been hesitant to specifically say to T that my therapy goal is work related because I have this fear of my therapy turning into CBT and I love the feeling that I can come in to t and ramble about whatever is on my mind that day.

I just started discussing work in my therapy - I wouldn't say that it's the main reason I'm there, but it's definitely an area that brings me stress and anxiety, and I don't love what I do. In my last session, T and I did discuss my fear of failure - I'm sure we'll get more into that soon enough.

Good luck, heygimm!

[Beholden]

Lemon and Dreamseeker 9, thank you.

Anxiety that "I can't do it", sounds like fear of failure? When I get stressed I don't like the way I start to act. Like, quiet, because I don't want to argue, or let them know I'm upset/mad/feeling as my last supervisor stated, "sensitive" about something, so get taken advantage of, more like, I let them take advantage of me.... of feeling stupid

I hate feeling stupid so I think I give the appearance of being a bit of a know it all, even though that's not really it either.

Since I'm not working, and wanting to start over at something, I have to figure out what those things are and how to overcome them.

Thanks again