Shane feels awkward and anxious in social situations where he does not know the people well. He starts sweating, his heart beats faster and his mind goes blank.
COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPIST:
Zach Pacha, LISW, A-CBT;
Representative of NSAC Des Moines.
Session 1
The purpose of this exercise is to begin developing an awareness of your thoughts and how they affect your feelings in social situations. It is the first step towards breaking the cycle of anxious automatic thoughts.
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.