Social anxiety
Fear of being judged by others, so strong that it begins to shrink your life.
How it shows up
It isn’t shyness. It is composing sentences in advance, a blush more troubling than the situation itself, and hours of going over it afterwards. Avoidance brings immediate relief and long-term worsening.
What we do with it in therapy
We work in gradual steps towards what you avoid, and on the belief that others watch you as closely as you watch yourself. As a rule, they don’t.
See also
The therapeutic relationship
The relationship between you and your therapist, which isn't the frame for the work but the working tool itself.
Boredom
An unpleasant state of unoccupied attention — and often the doorway to what you're avoiding.
Pattern
A sequence that repeats: cue, response, outcome — and then from the beginning again.
