Counteracting Social Anxiety – The Washington Center For Cognitive Therapy
Counteracting Social Anxiety
1. Order Managing Social Anxiety Client Workbook
This manual is produced by the Treatments That Work program and provides detailed, step by step procedures for assessing and managing social anxiety. These procedures are based on research-tested programs.
2. Start out small in facing your fears. Make a list of the social situations you fear and arrange them from least scary to most scary. Pick the least scary situation (e.g. saying hello to a co-worker) and practice it
until you feel more comfortable. Then move on to the next situation on your list.
3. Find a club, team or activity that you enjoy. This will give you an activity to focus on while you engage with a small number of
like-minded people.
4. When interacting with an individual or in a small group, focus on being responsive rather than pressuring yourself to perform well. This may involve listening carefully, looking for opportunities to give complements or be kind. People like to be around others who listen to them and try to make them feel
good.
5. Try to focus on enjoying the social interaction. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you must fake confidence. Recognize that not
everyone is judging you.
6. Question your thoughts. People with social anxiety tend to make negative predictions about what will happen in social situations. They also tend to put a great deal of pressure on themselves in
such situations. Here are some questions to counteract those tendencies.
- How any times has ____________ actually happened?
- Does ______________’s opinion reflect everyone else’s?
- Is _____________ really so important that my whole future depends on it?
- Am I responsible for the entire conversation?
- Do I have to please everyone — is that even possible?
- What would I say to my best friend if he/she were having this thought?