You might get scared right before it is time to practice a step – that’s okay! Remind yourself that it will get easier after you practice and that you will earn a reward for doing it. You can also use the coping skills you learned earlier in LUNA to help you feel calm before or during a step.
For some steps, it is easy to know when it is over, because you have finished the task (like when Sally sat down with a new group at lunch). For other steps, it can be hard to know how long a step should last. For example, if one of Sally’s steps was to play with her space toys in a public place that she thought was dirty, how long would she have to do it for? For these steps, it is important to keep doing the step until your anxiety scale rating goes down and it starts to feel easier.
After Mission Plan Practice
After each step, make sure to write it down in your practice log, and then talk with your parent about how it went. Your parent will ask you questions like:
- What did you learn about your worry/fear?
- How did your anxiety feelings change?
- How did you cope with your anxiety?
- What did you do well?
- How do you think the next practice will go?
The other important thing to do after you practice a step is enjoy your reward and tell yourself, “Good job!” Facing your fears can be hard work, so it is important to celebrate your practice and progress!
Here’s a Mission Plan Practice Log you can use with your parent. Or make your own using this template:
| Date | Mission Plan Practice Activity | Reward | Anxiety Dial Rating: 0 - 10 or easy / medium / hard | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | During | After | |||
| Before | During | After | |||
Planning your practice
This week, and most weeks for the rest of LUNA, you will spend most of your time doing steps of your mission plan. You can use this Weekly Practice Plan to plan when you will try each step. Or make your own by recording the date and step taken for each day of the week.
