Social Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Does public speaking fill you with fear?

Would you like closer relationships, but find it hard to open up?

Do you assume others are negatively evaluating you?

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often fear any “performance” situation which puts them on the spot. They feel easily embarrassed, blush sometimes, stammer, shake, and get queasy in the stomach.  SAD sufferers expect others to evaluate them negatively and judge their own anxiety as a weakness. Often SAD can lead to loneliness and depression, and create a barrier to achieving life and career goals.  Not an enjoyable state to be in, right?

You can learn how to overcome social anxiety

As a highly sensitive person, let me tell you, I have been in your shoes plenty of times. What’s helped me manage has been re-framing the situation, and accepting that we’re not all designed to be extroverted “performers”, and that’s perfectly okay. There is a place in the world for every personality type. But there are cognitive and behavioural skills you can learn to improve your social skills, and with a little practice, you can become more relaxed in social situations, find greater self-acceptance, and break down the barriers to intimacy.

Start building your “pro-social” toolkit

Starting with an interpersonal model of social anxiety disorder, you will learn about what starts the cycle of social anxiety, what feeds into the continuation of it, and what you need to do to make changes. We will examine your self-expectations and expectations of others in social situations. You will learn about the safety behaviours you are engaging in and practicing alternate ones. Your social anxiety disorder treatment also includes working on challenging core beliefs and learning “pro-social” behaviour. Once you start getting comfortable with these new skills, you may not suddenly become the life of the party, but socializing might actually become enjoyable!  Who would’ve thought?

Symptoms of social anxiety

• Fear of public speaking
• Fear of being assertive
• Fear of being the centre of attention
• Avoiding asking questions
• Fear of meeting new people
• Avoiding social events
• Blushing
• Stammering
• Depression

Tools to help manage social anxiety

• Education
• Behaviour awareness
• Relaxation techniques
• Changing safety behaviours
• Prosocial skills
• Self-esteem building
• Changing negative thoughts
• Behavioural experiments
• Fear ladder 

“I always thought I was just a shy person never good at socializing. Jenny taught me that I’m okay just the way I am, but I can learn to be less anxious when socializing. I feel a great improvement with my people skills now and now even have closer relationships – in my own way. Thanks Jenny.”

-Peter D