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As promised, here's something I've written about effectively doing the SEP:

Starting the SEP is a great first step - just be careful not to overdo it. Seriously, just do one "day" at a time at the most (I would say definitely not more than two, and never more than seven per week - one of which will be a "day of rest" anyway). If you want to do more, focus on anti-anxiety practices, since anxiety is at the heart of TMS for many of us. Find meditations, learn new breathing techniques, or start reading Help And Hope For Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. Learning to manage anxiety was key to my recovery, as it is to many of us - in combination with Dr. Sarno and one of our programs.

Watch out for over-thinking (you've already mentioned this is an issue for you, and it's super common). The way to look at it is that over-intellectualizing the process is just another form of distraction that your brain will create in order to make you think you are accomplishing something. You're not, so don't be fooled! Try to let the work unfold without analyzing it.

Do keep the following in mind about the process:
- it's not black & white,
- it's not linear,
- it's not possible to know how long it will take
- it's ultimately different for every person who does it.

As for the writing exercises, this work must be done with a serious commitment to self-honesty. Your brain will try to trick you into skipping things ("not necessary") or going too fast ("the faster you get this done, the sooner you'll recover!") or editing what you write down ("you should delete that, it's too embarrassing"). Again - don't be fooled!

The queen of writing for emotional release is Nicole Sachs, LCSW. Check out her resources, especially her podcast. The earliest episodes starting in 2018 (I think) go into her writing advice heavily, or try doing a search for her term "JournalSpeak". She also wrote a book.

At a certain point, often about a week or so into the program, your brain is quite likely to start throwing new symptoms at you, or revive old ones, or make your current symptoms worse. People have reported that anxiety and sometimes even depression can flare. Even though this doesn't feel good, it's actually good news, so do not be discouraged! Take a short break from the program, but double down on self-calming and affirmative techniques to talk back to your brain and assure it that you are perfectly safe and it's okay to be doing the work.

Always have faith that you're on the right path, and above all, be kind and compassionate to yourself. Recovery happens when you love yourself enough to know that you deserve to heal.

Keep us posted!

~Jan