Social Anxiety Counseling in San Jose & Santa Cruz

What Are the Symptoms of Social Anxiety?

Social Anxiety is characterized by marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the person is exposed to possible scrutiny by others — social interactions, having a conversation, meeting new people, being observed while eating or drinking, or performing in front of others, like giving a speech. These situations are feared or avoided due to thoughts of being judged or negatively evaluated, causing a fear of humiliation, embarrassment, or rejection.

Individuals with performance-only social anxiety disorder have performance fears often related to public speaking, athletics, or stage performance, but do not fear or avoid nonperformance social situations.

What Causes Social Anxiety?

There is no one single cause of Social Anxiety. However, risk factors include negative childhood adversity and maltreatment as a child. Underlying traits include fear of judgement or negative evaluation, self-criticism, and self-worth issues. Social Anxiety is heritable, and children with high behavioral inhibition are more susceptible to environmental influences such as socially anxious parents.

How Can You Treat Social Anxiety?

Anxiety Treatment Services provides integrative and comprehensive therapy for Social Anxiety including individual therapy, group support and behavioral fieldwork. Modalities include Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy including guided imagery practice and real-life desensitization/graduated exposure therapy, Psychotherapy, EMDR, and Meditation/Mindfulness.