Managing social anxiety

Everyone wants to make a good impression and is afraid of being rejected so a little bit of anxiety helps us do our best. But what should we do if even in the most normal of situations we always feel scrutinised and with all eyes constantly on us? Avoiding social situations solves the problem in the short term but proves to be counter productive in the long run. Based on cognitive behavioural therapy, this book offers a programme for bringing anxiety down to manageable levels. It starts with a short test which assesses the «temperature» of our anxiety; then the following are presented – strategies and practical exercises, accompanied by detailed descriptions and worksheets to complete, in order to face anticipatory anxiety and post-event processing, cognitive restructuring techniques and mediation exercises for facing the most difficult situations. The pdf worksheets and audio files accompanying the exercises are also available to download using the special codes that come with the book. The programme wraps up with an invitation to expose ourselves to situations which test our anxiety more and more, initially only in our imaginations and then in reality. It won’t be easy at first but as long as we do not become discouraged by difficulties, our social lives will become much more satisfying.