Starting taper soon- feedback please :)

Hello! I have appt next week with a new prescriber who is benzo aware and is familiar with Ashton Method. will do a patient-led taper.

I am currently on 0.5 clonazepam. 3x/day.( was on 1 mg for 10 years, then 1.5 mg since 2020)After reading, it seems I have  Hit tolerance and have symptoms of higher anxiety and sleep issues. I do not want to increase the dose.  I want to get off. It seems that's best in the long run. I think the meds created more anxiety than I even had to start.

I'm aware some people do fine with getting off and some don't. It seems slow tapering is best.

My question is: how should I stabilize on my current meds before the taper? I would think that would be step 1.

Then... Do you guys recommend I follow Ashton and crossover to valium ( slowly)? I know tapering on the same med is best and quicker probably, but due to the cuts in pills, etc- the clonazepam doesn't seem doable for tapering when it gets lower.

Any/all feedback is appreciated