By A New Future Even referencing the future as ‘post-COVID’ feels a bit misplaced. It insinuates that in the future we will be ‘over’ or ‘past’ the COVID pandemic. By now most of us can acknowledge that COVID will leave an everlasting impression on society as we know it. We are accepting (with some parallels to… Continue reading
By Christine A. Padesky, PhD, a clinical psychologist, is cofounder of the Center for Cognitive Therapy in Huntington Beach, California. She is codeveloper of strengths-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and has coauthored six books, including the bestselling self-help resource, Mind Over Mood, 2nd edition (Greenberger & Padesky, 2016) and the therapist training manual, Clinician’s Guide to CBT Using Mind… Continue reading
By Assertiveness is something that many people, with and without social anxiety, struggle with. Many people fear that being assertive means they will come across as pushy, selfish, or argumentative. Particularly for individuals with social anxiety, negative, harsh judgements such as being seen as mean or pushy, are something to be feared and avoided as much… Continue reading
By The Many Forms of Procrastination A lot can show up when someone settles down to start a task. Procrastination, the act of delaying the completion of a task, is a common response when one is faced with a challenging or multi-step task. The thought “I can’t do this” can actually have several meanings. It can… Continue reading
By Research, and common sense, tell us that hope is an important factor in recovering from an anxiety disorder – – including social anxiety. So, what makes the difference between an individual who has hope and one who doesn’t? One critical factor is “mindset”: how you view yourself and your situation in relation to others. By… Continue reading
By One of the most quickly growing areas of clinical research and treatment implementation is for people who are considered to be overcontrolled. What does being overcontrolled mean, and what does it have to do with feeling socially anxious? The concept of self-control refers to the ability to inhibit problematic behaviors. This is generally accepted by… Continue reading
By Social anxiety disorder is the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder and the third most common mental health condition in the world. The primary feature of social anxiety disorder is a persistent fear of a social or performance situations in which negative evaluation may occur. Along these lines, one of the main reasons for this high… Continue reading
By When faced with a dangerous animal, what do we do? We get away as fast as we can, fight the animal if we cannot get away, or become still and hope the animal will not notice us. While this may have been a common occurrence in prehistoric times when humans lived in jungles with predatory… Continue reading
By The following is a narrative of a fictitious character, Ms. Anonymous (Ms. A), and her treatment for social anxiety. This case illustrates how evidence-based methods can be applied in therapy to help alleviate symptoms and recover from social anxiety. Again, Ms. A is a fictitious character, and any resemblance to a real person is purely… Continue reading
By Approach or Avoid? If you have ever noticed your body tense up as you enter a social situation, your thoughts become focused around your self as an object of social evaluation and judgment, your attention scanning for possible signs of danger in the form of negative evaluation, and your emotions telling you to escape or… Continue reading
By Understanding Social Anxiety and CBT One pattern of thinking that is central to the maintenance of social anxiety involves a consistent overestimation of the likelihood of a negative social event occurring. Common examples include the estimation of likely being rejected, judged negatively, or being the focus of negative attention. This overestimation also tends to include… Continue reading
By Upsetting Social Anxiety Thoughts –I don’t know what to say. What do I say next? –I might say something stupid / offensive. –S/he’ll think I’m boring / stupid / unattractive / socially inept, and will dislike me. –What I have to say isn’t good enough. No one will be interested. –They can tell I’m anxious… Continue reading