Thanks for your replies and thank you Vickers4 for your advice and support.
I am doing the programme here, I had to print it all out because for some reason it wouldn't update online and though I left feedback which was reccommended for me to do, I didn't receive a response so I am taking it week by week on paper basically.
The thing is, though, that although we should take things step by step to conquer our fears, this is hard to do. Life has a habit of telling us that it doesn't have time for us to take so long! I mean, I so want to overcome my agoraphopbia but the difficulty is that there are occasions where I am presented with the problem of virtually having to go somewhere which doesn't fit into my step by step therapy. It is either further away or an area I don't know, with people I don't though, etc.
I don't know what to do. In theory, I shouldn't go to this barbecue as I am unable to get very far at all in my local area without panicking and I need to overcome this first by working at it gradually. I haven't been in a taxi either which would be putting me into a high level anxiety situation straight away.
My boyfriend is expecting me to go, I don't want to let him down but I am so worried about it.
I am trying to get more help so that I can get more used to the area by going out with support during the week (as my partner can't do this but wants me to go out at weekends when I haven't often been anywhere all week!) but it is a long and difficult road.
I don't know what to do about this weekend and of course, worrying so much about it could make me panic anyway if I do go! Help!