NSAC Associate:
LARRY COHEN, LICSW, A-CBT
SOCIAL ANXIETY HELP

LARRY COHEN, LICSW, A-CBT:
NSAC cofounder and Chair Emeritus

I began my clinical practice, Social Anxiety Help, in 1990. A Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, I have led 100 social anxiety therapy groups (20 weeks each) in Washington, DC, as well other cognitive-behavioral therapy groups for clinical depression, self-esteem, relationship problems, and LGBT concerns. I have worked with well over 1,000 persons with social anxiety and related problems in both individual and group CBT.

I cofounded the National Social Anxiety Center (NSAC) in 2013, and served as its Chair or Cochair until 2025.

My social anxiety therapy group was the focus of a National Public Radio (NPR) story on CBT.

I wrote a comprehensive social anxiety self-help book in 2025, Overcoming Shame-Based Social Anxiety and Shyness: A CBT Workbook, which has been endorsed by the foremost social anxiety researchers in the world.

I received my Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan in 1987. I have achieved the rigorous certification of Diplomate in cognitive-behavioral therapy by the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (A-CBT), which has also conferred on me the status of Fellow for having “made sustained outstanding contributions to the field of cognitive therapy.”

I am also certified as a Diplomate in CBT by the National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists. In addition, I am certified in Trial-Based Cognitive Therapy, helping people use role plays to change unhealthy attitudes. I was included as a “Top Therapist” in Washingtonian magazine’s listing in the category of cognitive-behavioral therapy. I was a founding member of the National Registry of Certified Group Psychotherapists.

Prior to starting my private practice in 1990, I served as the Volunteer Services Director, and later as the Mental Health Services Director at Whitman Walker Clinic, DC’s largest LGBTQ and HIV health services organization. I worked and volunteered as a community organizer and activist in a variety of human rights, social service and mental health-related concerns starting 1977. I retired in 2026.

Explore some of the work I have done for
NSAC and for Social Anxiety Help

• Read and complete the exercises in my self-help book: Overcoming Shame-Based Social Anxiety and Shyness: A CBT Workbook.
• Read any of the many NSAC blog articles I’ve written about:
  – The Vicious Cycle of Social Anxiety and Shame
  – Shame: The Oft-Neglected Ingredient in Social Anxiety
  – “I’m Not Good Enough”: Self-Comparison and Self-Judgment in Social Anxiety
  – Social Anxiety in Pursuing Romantic Relationships: Taking Rejection Personally
  – Fostering Pride to Help Overcome Social Anxiety
  – Social Anxiety and Small Talk: The Nuts and Bolts of Making Conversation
  – Sex, Men and Social Anxiety: Male Sexual Performance Anxiety
  – Lost in Thought, part 1: Mindfulness for Social Anxiety
  – Lost in Thought, part 2: Cognitive Restructuring for Social Anxiety
  – Lost in Thought, part 3: The Nuts and Bolts of Changing Your Social Anxiety Thoughts
  – Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans: Social Anxiety & Coming Out
  – Social Anxiety Does Not Equal Introversion
• Watch any of my NSAC self-help videos, and download the accompanying free worksheets and handouts:
  – External Mindfulness for Social Anxiety, part 1: Introduction
  – External Mindfulness for Social Anxiety, part 2: Curiosity Training while Observing
  – External Mindfulness for Social Anxiety, part 3: Curiosity Training in Conversation and Public Speaking
  – Building Self-Confidence for the Socially Anxious: Being a Good Parent to Yourself; Keeping a Pride and Gratitude Log
  – Then vs. Now: Changing Socially Anxious Beliefs
  – Overcoming Social Anxiety: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to Build Self-Confidence and Lessen Self-Consciousness
  – Changing Destructive Thinking: Cognitive Restructuring & Mindfulness for Social Anxiety
• Listen to any of the Sample CBT-for-Social-Anxiety Sessions I conducted, and download the free worksheets:
  – Worried about Being Awkward in Conversations, 3 sessions
  – Nervous about Speaking Up in Groups, 3 sessions
  – Beating Myself Up after Social Interactions, 2 sessions
• Read, watch and listen to any of the many personal change stories written and recorded by many former clients of mine. In particular, listen to this National Public Radio (NPR) story about cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety, featuring interviews with me and one of the members of my social anxiety CBT groups. Listen to that group member conduct a behavioral experiment (exposure) conversing with a stranger in Dupont Circle, a public plaza in Washington, DC.
• Watch me conduct an amusing paradoxical experiment in a drug store to challenge the fear of doing something embarrassing.
• Watch any of my clinical education and training seminars I’ve conducted for psychotherapists and counselors, and download the free worksheets and handouts:
  – Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Social Anxiety: Clinical Demonstrations
  – Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for Social Anxiety: An Integrative Strategy, comprehensive and shorter versions
  – Curiosity Training: The Importance of External Mindfulness in CBT for Social Anxiety
  – Exposures or Experiments: Cognitive Behavioral Therapies for Social Anxiety Disorder
  – Sex and Anxiety
  – CBT Approaches to Social Anxiety, part 2: Integrating the Models
  – Breaking the Link between Social Trauma and Social Anxiety
  – Helping Clients Overcome Social Anxiety and Build Self-Confidence Using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  – How to Help Clients Overcome Social Anxiety Using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Watch and read interviews conducted with me:
  – More than a Phobia: Targeting Shame-Based Beliefs in CBT for Social Anxiety (interview for the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies)
  – Ask the Author Q & A: Overcoming Shame-Based Social Anxiety and Shyness (interview for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America; scroll down to 2nd video)
  – How to Talk to People Again (interview with the New York Times about returning to in-person activity after the pandemic)
  – What Is Social Anxiety (Interview with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Not Broken radio program)
  – CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder (interview with National Public Radio’s All Things Considered program)
• Watch an interview I conducted with psychologist Kristin Bianchi about Shame and Social Anxiety.
• Read a research summary I wrote about Fading Positive Memories in Social Anxiety.

Contact Larry Cohen, LICSW, A-CBT

larry.cohen@icloud.com
202-340-8266