# Using Liebowitz to guide your progress



## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Has anyone thought of using the Liebowitz criteria to guide their progress? Maybe it could feed into an anxiety ladder ... hey I might add that to the post.

I mean, go through the items and pick the ones that you rated the least and the highest and work through them to overcome it. That could be quite good.

Just an idea.

Ross


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

Could you post the criteria here?

Lisa


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

They are on the left in a little linkie, under information  Its a questionnaire you can take to rate your anxiety. Fun for all the family 

Ross


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

I have used Liebowitz test to guide my progress. I found by being active in toastmasters, I eliminated my fears and avoidance in 12 of the 24 questions. The issues I faced is eating and drinking in public and hosting a party. I used my club to perform these exercises. I brought wine and crackers to the club to share on three occassions. Some members declined my offer of wine and cheese. But their rejection did not offend me as other members were very happy I did. I made a note in my mood diary about the rejection of some and the appreciation of others.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Wow! :yay I think you have unearthed an awsome tactic there Tom. If we could tie down the population of SAS to a parcel cart, and force them one by one into a toastmasters meeting ... hmm you are giving me ideas! I think that is incredible that you got all of that from the one club, and it actually makes me sad that I did not stay. So, I will go back!

I wish you would post your story sometime, I think it is truly inspirational 

Ross


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

tomcoldaba said:


> I have used Liebowitz test to guide my progress. I found by being active in toastmasters, I eliminated my fears and avoidance in 12 of the 24 questions. The issues I faced is eating and drinking in public and hosting a party. I used my club to perform these exercises. I brought wine and crackers to the club to share on three occassions. Some members declined my offer of wine and cheese. But their rejection did not offend me as other members were very happy I did. I made a note in my mood diary about the rejection of some and the appreciation of others.


And I thought I was taking a systematic approach to unlearning SA.

tomcoldaba: :nw :nw :nw


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

One of these is needed I feel ...


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

:lol


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

:lol 

I belong to 3 clubs. Attend 6 meetings a month for 6 months. I treated myself as a AA. Like CBT, you have to stay awhile with the program to work. If you bail after a few meeting, there is no effect. I saw major change after I had attended 20 meetings and had given 5 speeches. Now I have attended 35 meetings. I won the evaluation contest at my club. I will represent my club in an Area contest. An Area consists of 5 clubs. 

In Sep 2007 my Liebowitz score was 132 now it is 56 from very severe SA to mild SA.


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## ~AJ~ (Jan 23, 2008)

its not specific enough

I dont know what to put for the following:

*Using a telephone in public*
for what purpose??? if Im calling for pizza, no problem, if im calling to make conversation with someone, big problem
*Calling someone you don't know very well*
again, for what purpose??? 
*Talking face to face with someone you don't know very well*
again, for what purpose??
*Meeting strangers*
to talk business or become friends??for me: business=easy, friend=hard
*Expressing disagreement or disapproval to someone you don't know very well*
am i doing this in the middle of a conversation or before even speaking to them ever??
disagreeing while talking= easy, disagreeing to total stranger i havent met yet=hard
am i disapproving of something personal about them or their work??
work=easy, personal=hard
are they my co-worker?? friend of friend?? guy on street?? is it a big guy?? is this person mafia looking or ganster looking?? is he/she with a gang??


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## Lisa (Jul 8, 2006)

...


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

I guess the idea would be to select the easiest version of one of these things that still makes you anxious. Choose to do each thing and plan it, as opposed to wating for it to happen


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

I'm really enjoying the monitoring of tomcoldaba's progress in Toastmaster's. It truly never gets old to hear about what you're up to in your clubs, tomcoldaba.


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

ardrum said:


> I'm really enjoying the monitoring of tomcoldaba's progress in Toastmaster's. It truly never gets old to hear about what you're up to in your clubs, tomcoldaba.


I have used your technique while working on my speeches. You had some excellent suggestions in your thread on public speaking. Thank you for sharing.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Ooh wheres that thread then?


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

As I recall, I mostly shared my experience of transitioning from the controlled, highly organized, highly memorized style of speeches to a more laid-back, conversational, topic-oriented speech style.

Rather than memorize sentences, I would just really familiarize myself with what I was going to talk about and operate rather on a mental outline instead of specific lines. I still practiced my speeches, but they came out differently each time... and that was fine! I was rather surprised that it was much more easy to just talk to the audience like it was a regular conversation, and that it wasn't some sort of major trial or something. The audience actually seemed FAR more interested in speeches that were conversational and casual in tone, and that helped to keep them more engaged than they were with some of the highly controlled speeches (designed to avoid "mistakes," but bore the audience instead and come across as mechanical).

My speeches improved a lot throughout college as a result of this approach, and even though I had SA, I would even say that my speeches were probably receiving higher ratings than most.

That pretty much saves you search time.


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

I am focused on overcoming my fear of talking to authority figures like my boss, etc. So far, I have failed miserably. Maybe, I need to write it down on daily mood log. It is hard to come up with shame attacking exercises. 
I hate to interrupt my boss with something stupid. Maybe, it is my SA talking.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Yeah, authority figures can be difficult, especially if they have a dominating personality. I'd never hang around such people if I had the choice. They're no fun.


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## tomcoldaba (Jul 1, 2007)

The worst part, I cannot plan shame attacking exercises with them. One mistake, I can be canned. So it is hard to face my fears. Any ideas how to overcome this anxiety.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

Maybe shame-attacking exercises aren't the best way to go in that sort of situation. Perhaps something a bit less dramatic. Subtle, but increasingly challenging steps (rather than something designed to get shame, since consequences from a boss are a bit more serious than some random stranger).


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