The Social Phobia/Social Anxiety Program

|ANXIETY | SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER | SOCIAL PHOBIA |

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Social Anxiety Disorder/Social Phobia Pages

Social Anxiety/Social Phobia Program

1. We begin with cognitive (thinking, learning, belief) strategies and methods to learn new ways of thinking, so these new ways become a habit or "automatic". We develop the momentum to get these strategies into your mind to a deeper level as quickly as possible. No one is ever asked to do anything at all until they feel ready to do it. (See therapy section).

We use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which research indicates is the most effective and fastest way to overcome social anxiety disorder. The therapy requires the persons’ active cooperation, persistence with the strategies, and practice every day.

2. We work on all the aspects of the anxiety and put systematic "dents" into the vicious cycle of fear, anxiety, and the related depression. Then, we start the momentum moving in the other direction, toward peace, healing, and confidence. We emphasize the cognitive-behavioral therapy and see that it is "overlearned" and thus, is literally "conditioned" into the brain.

The anxiety problems, and social anxiety in particular, are not taken seriously by many people within and without the professional fields. For example, it is quite common for people with social anxiety to have spent years and years and thousands of dollars looking for "what is wrong with me".

Social anxiety is among the least understood, and most misdiagnosed problem in the world today. This is particularly unfortunate because 13-14% of the population will suffer from some form of social anxiety during their lifetimes. Our distinct specialty at the Social Anxiety Institute (SAI) is to work with people with social anxiety.

Our psychologists and staff members have suffered with anxiety disorders and know what it’s like to experience these life-restricting problems themselves. When you come to the anxiety clinic, you don’t have to worry that your therapist will understand what you’re saying. We do understand the severity and pain of this condition and use the latest research strategies to help you grow less and less anxious and more and more in control of your own life.

Potential Problems: Progress is never "linear" with any of the anxiety problems. We need to realize that we are overcoming a problem that we have lived with for many years and our brain is conditioned to respond in a "socially anxious" way. Reconditioning our brain is not a "snap out of it" situation. It takes time for your brain to process these new thinking and behavior patterns. Setbacks are inevitable, but they never make us lose what we have already learned. Thankfully, almost everyone who begins the social anxiety program continues through to the end. There is no way you can be defeated -- unless you give up.

CBT: Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an active therapy. We work on methods, strategies, and techniques that gradually reduce and eliminate the social anxiety. Each method is practiced at home, alone, when the person feels OK, and is always stress-free, peaceful, and positive. The therapy takes about thirty (30) minutes of practice per day. The key to permanent success is persistence. People that seriously practice these techniques and methods each and every day make significant progress. No one is successful, however, without this practice and persistence.

How long will it take? Cognitive therapy is a relatively short-term therapy, as opposed to traditional therapies which continue for a lifetime.

Because each person is individual, however, this number is not written in stone. People who have had longstanding avoidance behavior over a period of decades typically need more sessions and a longer time period to get better.

To be successful, we need to develop that physiological change in the brain so that the new thoughts and feelings you learn become permanent and automatic. People who actively participate in the therapy, and are determined to "overlearn" the strategies, move along more quickly and experience stronger results.

Charges: At this time, we are no longer filing insurance, except for Medicare, because of insurance companies' refusals to give us information concerning your policy. Thus, you will need to bill your insurance company yourself. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and we maintain a sliding fee scale for people in need without other resources. We will do our best to help you in any way we can. You have many rights under your insurance policy that your insurance company will not tell you about. It is likely, in this age of managed care, that they are trying their best to prevent you from receiving help for mental health care. Contact your State Insurance Commission for help when you feel your insurance company is not being honest with you.

Groups: Participation in a behavioral therapy group is essential for people with social phobia/social anxiety.

We operate under the same no-stress rules: The group is not pressuring, no one is put on display, and no one is asked to do something that they don’t want to do. We do not mix groups of people with different anxiety problems. That is, everyone in your group will also be someone who has lived with social anxiety and is in the process of overcoming it.

*Traditionally, social anxiety behavioral therapy groups meet once a week in the evenings (2 1/2 - 3 hours) for approximately fourteen (14) weeks, are active and positive in nature, and were being run by Dr. Richards.

*As of March 1999, we have been moving toward and emphasizing a more comprehensive approach to SA therapy. We now prefer you to have two to three individual sessions, and then move into the all-day Saturday CBT group. (See the Saturday CBT Group Page for details). Cognitive material is covered in the morning, a lunch break is taken, and the behavioral group components are done in the afternoon. Group/small group experiments are facilitated in the real world on other days of the week, depending on your schedule.

Although we prefer this approach, not everyone has Saturday free. Thus, we will still use the traditional approach: individual sessions followed by a night group(s), whenever possible. Severe cases of social anxiety take longer to heal and generally take more groups than average. We currently reduce your cost for participation in a second group in half, so that financial considerations do not impede your progression.

We believe it is important (indeed, essential) to "overlearn" the cognitive and the behavioral therapy, including the real-world behavioral experiments. Most people with social anxiety attend several consecutive groups. It is important to keep the momentum going once you've started CBT, and we prefer to err on the overlearning side. Your cost is cut considerably at every group juncture, so that, as you continue, you are paying only a nominal amount for the behavioral group therapy.

You CAN overcome social anxiety. The therapy only appears difficult until you start. Once you've started, you will find it grows a little easier as the weeks go by. The first step is always the hardest to make. (I DP understand that this is hard to believe :-) Most people are pleasantly surprised.

The Anxiety Network International Home Page

The Anxiety Network is an international outreach to educate and inform the general public about the anxiety disorders, and to educate and support people with anxiety disorders.

Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., Psychologist

The Social Anxiety Institute

The Social Anxiety Network