Dear Ken:

You are welcome. In absence of quality therapy (one with a therapist who is competent, wise, caring, honest, hard working, trustworthy, etc.), there is work you can do- I can suggest some things since I went through quality therapy.

This is what I suggest (and it is “identify any patterns of thoughts” that you mentioned): when you are faced with a task and feel anxious, notice or identify the thoughts you have. Many of these thoughts are not whole sentences, many are so automatic, you don’t “hear” words, but sometimes you do. Notice, what are those thoughts? For example: I am not good at this. (A person watching you) can see I am clumsy.

This is an exercise you can do today, whenever you feel fearful or anxious, identify the thoughts, keep a diary of it, part of a day, and come back to this thread, share your diary, or part of it, if you’d like.

anita