[Leah123]

I'm anticipating an agitating session tomorrow. I experience a lot of anxiety around therapy. Sometimes sessions are relatively calm or a relief, sometimes they feel downright healing, but an awful lot of the time, they're disturbing because of the subject matter or because I get overwhelmed by it- overtired, overstressed, and my therapist isn't the best at helping me contain those feelings.

She is good, and she does try sometimes, but other times... it's just so very intense that I'm scared about tomorrow's session, we're going to talk about something new. Not the worst thing that ever happened, but something hard that I haven't really discussed in... maybe most of 20 years.

So I'm kind of writing this actually as a reminder to myself that I have plenty of coping tools and I just need to remember them and practice them.

1. MP3 audio of a relaxation visualization for PTSD.
2. Anti-anxiety lotion I can smell.
3. Grounding sage on my desk.
4. Calming music on my playlist
5. My DBT workbook- accepting feelings, observing them, knowing they'll subside (that sounds so simple... so common sense, but common sense goes out the window during therapy sometimes, sigh)
6. Petting my dog
7. Going for a walk in the fresh air
8. Remembering my present-day successes. Some good news I just got, the financial improvement plan I'm on, the progress w/my daughter, being back in school. (I'm always tempted to see what's wrong with everything though, but shouldn't!)
9. Wrapping up in something soft.
10. Focusing on others: maybe I can write my adopted soldier a letter tomorrow.

It's hard for me sometimes to have perspective about the pain I feel talking about certain things. Am thinking this list will help because I go to PC when I'm feeling stressed about therapy sometimes and was thinking it might be good to share and see if others had support or other ideas for calming down.

I wrote my T a letter too asked her to promise to help me settle at the end of the session, to help contain my emotions so I wouldn't sacrifice my weekend to agitation and pain. I figure it'll help: sometimes anticipation is worse than the actual act I guess, and this might, I hope, be one of those times.

[someone321]

Thank you for this thread
My therapy coping kit:
1) Warm bath - my favorite one as even if I am not in a mood to use any of the coping skill I always can take a bath (of course always means that I have to be at home)
2) grounding (massage) ball
3) hugging my husband
4) calling my sister
5) watching pictures of my nephews - I have them with me at work
6) sleeping - usually I am so tired that it is almost always possible
7) watching tv series
8) Posting at PC
9) imaging safe and calm place
10) Positive self talking - saying that I'm great as many times that I almost start believing in that
11) E-mailing my T