[MsNobleEleanor]

I am in counseling still, have been for the last four years and I still have a few more years to go through in counseling. During those four years I have attended anxiety groups (to understand and learn how to manage my own anxiety), I went to a six month 3 hour weekly BPD program (I still attend groups after I have finished when I am able to and they are only two hours), I try to manage my schedule on a daily basis.

Attending groups to help me grow and cope has been the most helpful. Understanding why things happen, gives you an idea how to manage situations that arise. Believe me, it is hard at the beginning but then it becomes easier. I want to attend more groups for other things because learning how to cope with something, is easier, hearing others also dealing with the same thing, you don't feel alone that much. Going to a group on something you struggle with, provides you with a lot of tools.

When I go to the groups, I tend to stay to myself and not interact with others or to make friends. I am basically there for myself and not anyone else.

Searching groups or mental health groups in your area, you are able to see what they have, I tend to look for the ones runned by a professional and free or low cost. You can find things on managing money, or relationships with parents/romantic/etc., abuse, addictions, etc., the list goes on and on.

In counseling, I set goals on what I would like to work on. It could be anything, but it helps to be focused. Usually, we discuss what to talk about in my next session, it might be more on that session and what I talked about that carries over to the next session.

Working on myself means a lot of different things. It could be working on anxiety again, or a conflict in my life, re-looking at things I talked about before, working on trust or communication, or anything else that is going on and the main reason why I am in counseling.

What helps is looking at goals I can do (small goals) like, being in public areas, to work on that in counseling and talking about it, then actually going out in a public place that I can tolerate.