Vocational Rehabilitation

[quallagirl]

Hi. Recently I was advise to take vocational rehab because of my social anxiety. I told the social worker about my nervous breakdown when I worked in customer service. I decided after that to never work in that field ,including sales, again. Has anyone here been through this program before? If so, was it beneficial?

Tonya

[Ryobi]

Don't expect to much...

I came away with the impression, they exist not so much to help people find employment, as you are there, to provide them with employment.
:roll:

[danstelter]

A much more effective method of handling anxiety is to get counseling, medication (if you feel you need it), exercise regularly, and diet properly. You must challenge your anxiety and process it. Vocational rehabilitation is a program for people with disabilities; you are not disabled. I had pretty intense social anxiety at one point and it can still bother me, but I never felt being disabled to be an option. Having social anxiety and working customer service/sales is incredibly difficult, and probably not the best profession for a socially anxious person. My advice is to expand your interests and try to think about other career tracks that would be more suitable for someone with social anxiety. I work with people, and while my SA can bother me, it does not shut me down. I still do a good job. You can do it too. Don't waste your time on vocational rehabilitation. Your social worker has good intentions, but has given you lousy advice.