Social Anxiety Therapy / Support Group – Los Angeles

I currently offer one weekly low-fee social anxiety and shyness therapy group for adults. The purpose of this therapy group is to offer an affordable way for people struggling with social anxiety (sometime referred to as social phobia) to learn how to successfully manage and overcome their social fears. Although the therapy process can feel challenging at times, the group experience is contained within warm, friendly and supportive environment.

Avoidance vs Social Anxiety Therapy (Los Angeles)

It’s very common for those suffering from social anxiety and social phobia to run away from scary situations, which typically means that many social situations are regularly avoided. The current research on social anxiety tells us that group therapy can be a powerful antidote for this kind of avoidance. Why? Because social anxiety therapy groups directly challenge avoidance behaviors through bringing the person into contact with what they fear. Over time and with consistent group attendance, the tendency to isolate diminishes because people naturally “habituate” to what they once feared. In other words, people eventually get really comfortable with the things they once feared. However, if the habit of avoidance is continually reinforced through consistent social withdrawal, it becomes increasingly challenging to get out of this cycle of avoidance. Fortunately, with group support, the therapist’s guidance, experiential social skills training within the group, and homework done outside of the group setting, social anxiety sufferers become increasingly comfortable being interacting with others, in both personal or professional relationships.

Some of the more common anxiety & social phobia triggers are: speaking to strangers, speaking in class, gatherings and parties, public speaking, business meetings, speaking on the telephone, writing in public,  job interviews, dating, concerts or theaters, reading in public, interacting with authority figures, dancing, team sports, weddings or social gatherings of any sort, being in public spaces (i.e., farmers markets, stadiums, concerts, theaters, shopping areas), class field trips, dining in restaurants or drinking in bars, using public restrooms (clinically known as paruesis)

How Our Los Angeles Social Anxiety Group Therapy Works:

Step One– Addressing The Thoughts That Fuel Your Phobia & Anxiety

Scratch the surface of most automatic thoughts and you’ll typically find deep-seated, personal beliefs about people and life in general. These are beliefs that we may have had our entire lives– unexamined beliefs that we’ve simply taken for granted. Like the air we’re breathing, we don’t even notice their presence. Often and unfortunately, these negative beliefs can make for an extremely limited and unfulfilling social life. However, when we directly examine these beliefs that we think are true, but in fact may be totally false, we learn how to grow beyond social anxiety and shyness. This process of cognitive self-examination acts as a spotlight, giving us greater insight into our personal psychology. What’s most important is to deconstruct false beliefs,  because it’s these very beliefs that lead to thinking patterns, behaviors, and choices that isolate us even more.When we feel isolated, our symptoms of loneliness and frustration worsen. A social anxiety therapy and support group may open your mind to new ways of thinking and feeling, which will allow you to make better choices– choices that are geared towards a more satisfying life, guided by your personal, core set of values.