[AnxiousGirl]

Hey guys. Many of you know from my previous posts that lately my anxiety has been very high because of exposure that I am doing with my therapist. Well I only see her once a week for an hour and obviously we can't get much done during then. So she assigns exposure homework for me to do at home. This week she assigned one that I'm dreading to do. I saw her yesterday and still haven't done it. I can easily do it on my laptop but I'm having a very hard time getting the nerve to start and even thinking about it is making me extremely anxious. I guess what I'm asking for is just some help or a push to get me going? Because I know this community is pretty solid in that aspect.

Thanks!

[Dern]

Hello, AnxiousGirl. Although not directly on point, this article may be helpful:

6 Ways to Open Up and Talk in Therapy | World of Psychology

You decided to try therapy for a reason. Your participation in the process is critical to achieving a good result. Doing the homework helps your therapist help you.

If you continue to have a problem with completing the assignment, you might consider printing a copy of your posts for the therapist. The posts may help the therapist better guide you.

Good luck.

[angelicgoldfish05]

What kind of exposure is it and what would be of help to you? I know for me, for doing homework for school, I put things off and delay because of fear of failure and low self confidence. What is the worst that could happen with doing the assignment. Maybe start looking at what is the worst that could happen and consider how likely it is to happen. For me, the worst that could happen is that I fail all my classes and therefore would perpetuate the cycle for me of feeling bad about myself and what I am doing with my life. So there is a price to pay and the cost is not only financial, although that will be a huge cost to pay. It would affect my future self-confidence in that I would be less likely to want to try taking more classes because what if the same thing happened again? I'm pretty sure it would probably make me feel more depressed and anxious. The next thing I go to try and do will be that much harder. Then it comes to a point where I ask why try at all? That is when I reach the giving up point leading to all other sorts of negative consequences.

The best thing that could happen is that I do the work and earn good grades going on to graduate and find a fulfilling career. However, I also have a fear of succeeding and doing things well. I'm not sure why that is. I should probably try and focus towards working hard and getting good grades then. It will not only benefit me but the people around me and those I work with.

Find a reason you want to complete the assignment and focus on doing it because you want what you are working towards. Take it one small step at a time (Did you ever see the movie "What About Bob?" It's a funny movie about a client in therapy who follows his psychiatrist on his vacation because he is so needy and afraid. The psychiatrist had given him the idea about using baby steps to get over his phobias. Anyways, maybe check it out (after you do your homework of course). Which is another thing, you could always decide on a reward to give yourself for completing the assignment. You can do it though. Just get going on it, little by little and you'll make it through. You know you can.

Perhaps discussing with your T how difficult it is to do homework would be more beneficial?

[AnxiousGirl]

Originally Posted by _Mouse

Perhaps discussing with your T how difficult it is to do homework would be more beneficial?

I did send her an email last week about it and we talked about it and she told me that it's normal to be so scared for the first few times. I just have to get the nerve to start it.