I am on Week 15 of the course and unfortunately have hit a big wall. I am 55 and unemployed for four months. I work in the high tech field and have sent out countless resumes, proactive and follow-up emails and phone calls. So far, nothing has worked.

My self-talk and relaxation skills have evaporated. I am feeling like am going down a black, spiraling hole. Sorry, for the negativity. I live alone and really don't talk to many people about my feelings.

For Now,

Ray

Ray,

this may sound strange, but I am grateful to find that I am not alone. I'm on week 7 and seem to have lost my self-talk skills, too. I look at my spiral notebook and think, "why bother" I know if I would just get past that wall, it would get better, but it's almost like I want to hurt myself, I don't want to get better. Where is the part of the program on secondary gains? Did I miss it? Is it coming up? Can someone help me and Ray get through this bad time. What do we do?

Jeanne

Jeanne:

I have gone back to Lesson 3, Self-Talk and Negative and Positive Dialogues. One topic that has tweaked my interest is Positive Thought Replacement. I am going to really concentrate on doing that each time a negative thought surfaces.

Ray....