Social Anxiety

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

• Fear of public scrutiny

• Fear of embarrassment

• Fear of negative judgment from others

• Persistent fear in social situations

• Avoidance or endured social situations with intense fear

• Significant distress

I always tell my clients that, before we go to therapy, avoidance is how we get through social anxiety. It’s our most common coping skill. Folx with social anxiety worry that other people will notice that they are anxious.

“I sweat a lot, I don’t shake hands because someone will notice I’m all sweaty.”

“My face turns red sometimes, and people point it out.”

“I get really jittery when I’m nervous, and people think I wiggle too much.”

How does Jenn help people with social anxiety?

• If there is a previous trauma, we will treat the underlying trauma with something called EMDR. Some folx do have social anxiety because they threw up in the middle of the classroom in 3rd grade, had a college professor publicly humiliate them, or were bullied in middle school.

• Next, I teach my clients a little bit about social anxiety disorder, how our brain works, what the amygdala is, and what cortisol does to and for our bodies.

• Social anxiety disorder is also treated by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, addressing the things that our brain says to us that are making us feel more anxious. “You mispronounced that word; people will think you are dumb.”

• We will role-play in therapy, learn positive coping skills, do imaginal exposures, and do exposures in the office together.

• When clients are ready, I assign some exposure therapy outside the therapy room.

Anxiety wants you to believe that the worst things will happen and that you won’t be able to handle them. That is a lie. You can handle anxious situations, and I can help!

Book a free 10-minute phone consult today!