Now that you have learned how to identify, challenge, and change your anxious thinking patterns, it is time to move into the next phase of your treatment plan – facing your fears head on. You are going to put yourself into the social situations that you fear. It may sound scary, but now that you …
A Social anxiety thought record is a great tool to help you examine the thoughts you experience when having a social anxiety attack. Filling out these journals/records is necessary at first because it will train you to pay attention to your thoughts and it will constantly push you to challenge and change your thoughts. You …
Changing your thoughts and expectations seems like the logical thing to do when attempting to overcome your social anxiety. The question is, how do you do that? 1 – Identify your anxious thoughts and predictions. You can’t change these thoughts if you haven’t identified them, so you must really be clear about the types of …
Strategies for Changing Thoughts and Expectations Read More »
Negative Core Beliefs Besides the various types of anxious thinking, you may also want to examine your core beliefs. I’ve mentioned it before during your self-assessment and where do our fears come from? You may want to revisit that before examining your core beliefs in conjunction with your anxious thinking. Behind your anxious thinking lies …
Some of us may not even realize we are engaging in anxious thinking. So, let’s look at the different types of anxious thinking to get a better understanding. Once you learn about these types of thinking, you may be able to identify that these are thoughts you partake in. Once you identify which types of …
If you have social anxiety, the way in which you process information (thoughts, memory, interpretation, perception, etc.), or said better – the ways in which we think, are at the heart of your social anxiety problem. The way in which you think about yourself, your environment, and your future are the cause of your anxiety. …
You now have a good understanding of how social anxiety works, and the particulars of your social anxiety (self-assessment). You know what your goals are, you have an idea of the available treatments out there, and now it is time to create your comprehensive treatment plan. My recommendation is below: 1 – Focus on cognitive …
With all of these different treatments to consider, you may also be asking if you should try and do this yourself (self-help) or if you should seek a professional. I do believe that everyone can benefit from self-help, but if your social anxiety is very severe, you should probably seek a professional. If your anxiety …
There are many treatment options out there. There isn’t a lot of controlled research into how effective these different methods are for social anxiety, so how do you know which one to choose? You don’t want to waste time trying all the options out there. You want to find one that works and move on …
Goal setting is an important part of overcoming social anxiety. Without setting a clear and specific objective, you are not as likely to follow through. Additionally, without a specific goal, how are you going to measure your success? Think of some short term goals as well as long term goals. The short term goals (weeks …