Participant's review of the 'Ten Days to Great Self-Esteem' course
By Tim (March 2008)
I was about to round the corner and walk into my first session of the ten week course to great self-esteem. Deep breath. I was seriously questioning what I had got myself into, after all, it was a Tuesday night after work and I should have been relaxing. My mind raced with a barrage of automatic negative thoughts. That was normal, like many I had lived my whole adulthood with such thoughts, and because of that I had lived an adulthood with an unnecessarily high amount of anxiety and stress. That was the very reason I was about to turn the corner and enter the class. Deep breath. Notice the deep breathing, yep, I had obviously done some reading about coping with anxiety… deep breathing when anxious is gooood! Some reading, yes, in fact I had read quite a bit about anxiety and how to overcome it. I had come a long way. I had tasted what life was like not to be unnecessarily anxious. I had at times been able to pry open the door to inner peace, to pick through my anxiety and find the calm within my mind. I knew this state could become my reality. I had seen it and felt it. But sooner or later that nagging feeling of inadequacy and anxiety had always found its way back into my mind.
Reading about overcoming anxiety had only taken me so far, the thought of picking up another self help book and doing exercises on my own was becoming too dull to contemplate. My motivation was wavering. I had this sneaking suspicion that if I enrolled in a course, paid money and actually committed to helping myself I would make some more significant progress. After all, I had learnt enough about life to realize that there was nothing more important than finding inner peace and happiness. No more half baked attempts. I rounded the corner and was about to enter for my first session, my chest tightened, the automatic negative thoughts raced and kindly convinced me that the room would be full of complete whackos.
I scanned the room in terror….everyone was so normal….had I come to the right place? These people were accountants, high school students, tradesman, unemployed, university students and everyday mothers and fathers. Phew! We all greeted each other warmly and then sat in a circle in silence……uh oh…but the silence did not last long before someone made a joke about the irony of twelve anxious people having to endure an awkward silence together, everyone broke into genuine laughter. It was a touching moment. A moment which made us all realise that we were all on the same page and in the same boat. It was a moment I will never forget. The mood remained surprisingly light and relaxed for the remainder of the course. Humour was never far from the surface. As the laughter subsided I began to sense that this course was going to be something different. For the first time in my life I felt comfortable being open and talking with other people about my anxieties and insecurities. It was utterly liberating.
Over the next ten weeks the regular Tuesday meetings remained enjoyable but were at times challenging and confronting. The course focused on causes and cures for problems such as low-self esteem, feelings of inferiority, perfectionism, and procrastination. We had to do regular homework - we got out of it what we put in. The course benefited everyone, including those who had no prior understanding of anxiety. We had learnt arguably the most important lessons in life; how to shed our fears, feel better about ourselves and discover the joy in everyday life. We had actually learned and applied these lessons, not just read about them. That for me was the key. It has now been eighteen months since I completed the course. I have never been better. You will walk away from this course a happier and more stress free person. What price can you put on that!
On behalf of everyone who has completed this fantastic course, I would like to express our thanks and appreciation to the facilitators Dianne Thiele (Psychologist), and Eva Savov-Tancev (Counsellor), both are also former ADAVIC support group facilitators. Thank you for giving up your precious time and effort and putting it towards such a magnificent cause.
