Nicole worries about saying the wrong thing, and coming across as awkward or not “normal” in social conversations in everyday life with acquaintances.
COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPIST:
Larry Cohen, LICSW, A-CBT;
Cochair and cofounder of NSAC;
Representative of NSAC District of Columbia.
Session 1
Larry introduces Nicole to external mindfulness and curiosity training as part of the CBT strategy to help reduce social anxiety and improve conversations over time.
Session 2
Larry and Nicole discuss her CBT homework from last week, and plan an experiment for Nicole to try this week in order to test some of her hot thoughts and predictions that are causing her anxiety.
Session 3
Larry and Nicole discuss what she learned from conducting her experiment last week, and how to build upon that learning in an experiment they plan for next week.
National Social Anxiety Center therapists have recorded samples of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions with socially anxious persons. The therapists are real NSAC clinicians. The persons portraying the clients are actors. It is our hope that listening to these sample sessions will give you a good taste for what doing CBT for social anxiety is like. We also suggest homework ideas, complete with handouts you can download, that you will likely find helpful to pursue on your own.
These audio recordings are a joint project of Meomind and NSAC. Meomind offers a library of pre-recorded simulated therapy sessions about a great many concerns for individuals who are interested in receiving psychotherapy but may have difficulty accessing it due to cost, stigma, and/or lack of provider availability. Listeners are matched to the most relevant sessions in the library based on their self-identified mental health needs. Please visit meomind.com or download the Meomind app.