We invite you to learn about the experiences of some of our former clients. Take the time to view some of these personal stories to see the quite varied ways that doing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for social anxiety has helped many people turn their lives around. Each client’s experience working in CBT is unique. Your personal experience is likely to have some similarities as well as some differences to the stories told here.
The personal stories on self-recorded video are displayed on this page. We also have many other personal stories from a diverse array of former clients in audio recordings, a radio interview, and many written essays, all available here: MORE PERSONAL STORIES.
31-year-old gay, white man;
District of Columbia“I can just be me. I felt pride in so many different ways!”
33-year-old African American woman;
District of Columbia“I needed to present this facade of perfection. I didn’t want to be another stereotype. For me, I was representing my entire race
at such a young age, at 14.”
at such a young age, at 14.”
33-year-old married white woman;
Maryland, suburban DC“I felt like I didn’t really fit in with most people….I felt like I was just bad at having conversations, that I never knew what to say.”
Do you have a personal story of learning to overcome your social anxiety you wish to share?
If you are a former client of an NSAC-affiliated clinic or clinician, we welcome you to share your story if you believe doing so will be helpful for you. Sharing your story—or not doing so—will have no impact whatsoever on any future services you may seek from any NSAC-affiliated clinic or clinician.
You may put your story in writing, audio recording, or video. Discuss any of the following: how social anxiety affected your life; what you learned in therapy that was most helpful for you in lessening your social anxiety; how your life has changed as a result of your work.
NSAC reserves the right to decide which stories will be posted or not based on how helpful we believe they will be to other consumers. NSAC also reserves the right to edit for length and clarity, but we will get your approval on any changes before posting your story. All stories will be posted anonymously. Once posted, you retain the right to have the story removed from our website at any time.