Social Anxiety therapists in Barrow in Furness, England ENG, United Kingdom GB
Social Anxiety
Sara Aicart-Pendlebury
Art Therapist, Human Givens Practitioner (HG.Dip.P), Member of Human Givens Institute, IFS therapist Levels 1&2, Narm Practitioner
We all need to experience some degree of anxiety at times – it would be unnatural not to feel any of its symptoms, such as racing pulse, dry mouth, sweatiness and shallow breathing, just before a big speech or exam, for instance – as it helps get us motivated to act. But excessive anxiety causes problems. Excessive anxiety may develop gradually, starting, perhaps, with loneliness after the loss of a loved one; being too shy to make new friends when moving somewhere new; experiencing unwelcome life changes because of chronic illness and pain; or feeling loaded down with too much responsibility – all cases of unmet emotional needs.
When people worry excessively, it is in essence because important emotional needs, such as for safety, connection or status, are not being met. That’s why the human givens approach, which focuses on helping people in distress find healthy ways to meet their emotional needs, is so effective.
For some people, anxiety can develop suddenly, after they are caught up in some tragic disaster, such as a fire or a crash, or are the victims of violence, and their lives become ruled by fear. (This is known as post-traumatic stress.) Anxiety may also take the form of obsessions, compulsions, phobias or a nagging feeling of foreboding – all of which are attempts to ward off a sense of threat.
Yet, as we know, some people face such circumstances without becoming overly anxious, while others end up almost crippled by anxiety. How we explain the negative events that happen to us has a considerable bearing on whether we are likely to suffer from excessive anxiety. Three particular types of thinking are especially connected with its development and its close partner, depression: how personally people take events (they think everything is their fault or that they didn’t get the job because they weren’t good enough, rather than because the competition was particularly stiff); how pervasive they think the effects will be (if they lose their job, they think everything in their world is going wrong, even though their relationship is still strong and they have their health, good friends, etc); and how permanent(they will never get another job, partner, dream house like that one, etc).
People who suffer badly from anxiety also tend to have a lot of negative thoughts running through their minds that they don’t even notice (“I’ll never cope”; “it’s going to be awful”; “no one likes me”) and commonly catastrophise (“I’m going to be late. My boss will sack me!”) Changing negative self-talk and challenging catastrophic thinking help lower stress levels.
Another major cause of troublesome anxiety is negative over-imagination. Anxious people tend to spend a lot of time worrying “What if?”, coming up with a whole variety of dreadful outcomes for themselves or their loved ones. This keeps them in a constant state of high emotional arousal and can take the extreme forms of phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorders. Learning to use the imagination positively – by calmly rehearsing mentally tried and tested techniques (such as deep breathing and distracting thoughts) for dealing with feared or worrisome situations – is very effective. Calming ourselves down, when anxious, is extremely important because high emotional arousal makes us stupid. We literally can’t think straight and that makes the situation worse.
Human givens practitioners can show people how to relax, so that they can bring their own arousal and stress levels down, and how to use their imaginations positively, to rehearse successful outcomes instead of bad ones. They can also help people overcome phobias, panic attacks and traumatic memories quickly and painlessly. And, very importantly, they will encourage people to find ways to reduce their stress and also focus outwards on fulfilling activities (maybe involving the wellbeing of others as well as themselves) – excellent ways of getting their own needs met.
15 Years Experience
Social Anxiety
Karen Queller
Art Therapist, M.A Expressive Arts Therapy
Discover what your unique process is and how it can actually help you transform social anxiety, develop self-expression, build confidence, and cultivate authentic connections with others.
5 Years Experience
Social Anxiety
Janine & ComposurePsychology Team
Psychologist, Chartered Clinical Psychologist, HCPC & BPS registered, DClinPsy, CSAccred.(AAC), MPhil (cantab)
All of our Clinical Psychologists at ComposurePsychology are highly experienced in helping people understand, manage and overcome social anxiety, fears, nervousness, worry and panic. We draw from evidence based therapies including; CBT, ACT, CFT, SFT, DBT, EMDR, systemic, narrative, psychodynamic and others.
11 Years Experience
Social Anxiety
Julie Jenner
Counsellor/Therapist, BA(Hons), NCS Senior Accredited
Social anxiety seems like such a current issue to me, and I see people struggling under the weight of it at times in all areas of my life. We are bombarded with how we are supposed to do this thing called life, our values, appearance, views and so on are brought into question and there feels like there is no escape from it. What this can bring about is a fear of being seen, a fear of not getting it right, or not fitting in. We can start to question the safety of being out in the world where others might see that you are doing it wrong - or more realistic not doing it how they would. It can bring limitations in your life which stop you from doing what you want, stop you from connecting with others, stop you getting the most out of each day. Believe you can change this and know you do not have to do it alone. Asking for support is one of the most important choices you might make today.
8 Years Experience
Social Anxiety
Dr Ian Anderson
Psychologist, Consultant Clinical Psychologist (HCPC registered), PhD, MSc, MSc, MSc, MA (Econ), BA (Econ) Hons
Human beings are not the only social animal, but our ability to interact with other people is a critical factor in our lives and thereby our sense of wellbeing. Social anxiety arises for many different reasons-- sometimes as a result of difficult experiences during our upbringing, resulting in low self-esteem, for example. In recent times the temptation to compare ourselves to others has been distorted by cultural phenomena such as social media. We are constantly bombarded by images of success, beauty, attainment, wealth, and so on that we can never hope to achieve. This creates an unrealistic sense of worth and worthlessness that sometimes causes us to isolate ourselves even further. Psychological counselling can help evaluate who we really are, what we want to achieve, and how we can do this. In my experience the most effective treatment is an evaluation of the root causes of social anxiety in my clients. I then design a specific coaching program to enable my clients to engage with the social world.
44 Years Experience