Report from 2012 Sydney Workshop

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Rich
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:39 am

Report from 2012 Sydney Workshop

Post by Rich » Wed May 02, 2012 8:19 am

Hi all,

I attended the workshop in Sydney over the weekend, and I thought I should quickly report back for those who are curious about what goes on at these events and how useful they are. I'd also like to give a big thanks to John for organising the workshop and for his support and advice.

First I'll give a bit of background about myself. I'm in my mid-thirties and I've been paruretic since my early teens I guess (I'm really can't remember when or how it started...). I'd come to the conclusion that I was probably just stuck with this annoying problem and would just continue on with it and see no improvement for the rest of my life. But of course I wished that I could get better, and every now and then I'd lurk around on these forums searching for some inspiration or insight into how I might miraculously "cure" myself. Eventually I guess I just worked up the courage to try and actually do something to improve my situation so I decided to attend a workshop.

Well I can definitely say that attending the workshop was a great experience and I am so glad that I took the big step of starting to work towards recovery. Meeting and talking with other people and hearing their own stories was invaluable for helping to chip away at that feeling that I am some kind of "freak" for having this problem. It was also incredibly inspiring to hear of the progress that others had already made on their journeys to recovery - this was direct evidence that this problem can be overcome if you are prepared to put in the work. John also provided great advice on how to start changing our thought processes about paruresis, and a couple of suggestions that particularly struck me were:

1) To think about it in terms of your bladder (or "waterworks") instead of yourself. For example:
- when using a toilet don't worry about what YOU are going to do, just try to think like
an observer with a dispassionate interest in what you bladder will do
- if you are asked by someone why you are using a cubicle, tell them that "your bladder needs
a bit of privacy" instead of "I need more privacy"
2) Don't feel like you have to be in "recovery mode" all the time. Practicing and graduated
exposure are essential for working towards recovery, but there are times when you will need
to revert back to "survival mode" in order to relieve yourself. This shouldn't be seen as
a failure - there is no point in exposing yourself to a stressful situation where you are
almost certain to "misfire". But it is important to make sure that practising and recovery
techniques are scheduled regularly into your life.

The practise sessions during the workshop were a great opportunity to start chipping away at the problem. It was extremely rewarding to get a sense of progress in just a couple of days, and I think this will really help with creating the motivation to continue on with practice and recovery.

So to summarise, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that others attend one of these workshops if they get an opportunity. I believe that it has given me a great boost towards recovery.

Rich.

rossco309
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:18 pm

Re: Report from 2012 Sydney Workshop

Post by rossco309 » Fri May 04, 2012 1:29 pm

Hi Rich,

thanks for posting a great report on your Workshop experiences. It brought back many memories of my first one about 5 years ago now. (I have been to two in Sydney)

Are you able to meet up with a pee-buddy somewhere? or in a local support group? This will help you to reinforce what you have learned already, and enable you to continue to make progress down the recovery road.

Regards, Ross. (Sydney Support Group)

Steph
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 3:13 pm

Re: Report from 2012 Sydney Workshop

Post by Steph » Sat May 19, 2012 3:46 pm

As another first-time attendee of the latest workshop, I thought I'd post something too..

As it was for Rich, attending the workshop was extremely helpful to me and I highly recommend attending one of these terrific workshops to any paruresis sufferers wishing to significantly speed up their recovery or reduce their paruresis to a level where it is no longer a significant issue in their lives.

The workshop was roughly 50% practice sessions and 50% group discussion sessions and the things I liked most about it were all the invaluable recovery techniques and encouragement given to us by our convenor John, the practice sessions where I can happily report I made significant progress, the opportunity to share my paruresis story with others and hear their stories too and, perhaps most satisfyingly, the wonderful atmosphere of mutual support and camaraderie that characterised the entire weekend. (There was absolutely no judgmentalism or pressure and everybody was totally supportive of each another no matter what degree of paruresis we are recovering from).

To other sufferers who are at a point where paruresis has become a significant problem in their lives, I can't recommend highly enough attending one of these workshops and couldn't agree more with Rich's summation of it..

Attending the workshop gave me a great opportunity to significantly reduce my level of paruresis in just a few days and face the future knowing that, provided one does regular follow-up practice after the workshop, paruresis can most certainly be conquered or, at the very least, reduced to a level where it is no longer a debilitating issue in ones life..

Steph

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