Workbook & CDs

AUDIO SESSION #1:   

Introduction to the series, why therapy must be "solution" oriented (i.e., we must find a permanent solution to the symptoms of social anxiety), definition of social anxiety disorder and related issues, explanation of cognitive and behavioral therapy and how it works separately and together to help us overcome social anxiety, the scope of the problem, history, statistics, degrees, severity,  or "levels" of social anxiety, how long it takes to get "better" and what this means, avoidant personality disorder, and what we know today about overcoming social anxiety.

Social anxiety can be overcome because the human brain can change ... and you can be leading a completely different life. not based on anxiety and fear.   Don't believe the charlatans and hucksters who say a vitamin or a pill will change your life.  In addition, do not believe the hopelessness and helplessness that you hear from other sources.  

The series is focused on practical, real-life solutions that will reduce and extinguish the awful effects of social anxiety in your life.

AUDIO SESSION #2:   

How and when to practice on your worksheets in the accompanying booklet, the physiological picture (i.e., what is really going on inside the brain as we get better), how we will begin permanently changing our brain's chemical and electrical pathway system (i.e., our neural pathways) in the brain.  

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1. How to calm yourself in social situations and remain in control

This is a specific strategy that will begin to work fairly quickly -- although everything must be given time to work.  You will be able to begin slowing and calming yourself down anywhere.  In social situations, this method will allow you to be calmer while you keep your focus external (i.e., on other people and what is happening around you).  When you practice this method until it is automatic, anxiety will not be able to fog up your mind and cloud your concentration much longer.

2. How to stop automatic negative thoughts (ANTs),  part #1 

we begin to notice, catch, and stop our automatic negative thoughts (ANTs), and then learn not to use them -- we have other, healthy rational thoughts and better things we can be doing with our time. 

3. Using rational coping statements to reduce irrational anxious feelings

we sink two or three rational (truthful) facts into our minds about anxiety -- and we keep practicing (i.e., rehearsing and repeating) these two or three rational statements until they occur to you naturally in the real world when you are in a typical social anxiety situation.  This is not a cure in itself, but it begins to provide concrete help, like all the other methods, strategies, and techniques we will be adding.

AUDIO SESSION #3:   

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

 How to stop automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and feelings, part #2 

how to begin catching and then stopping our automatic negative thinking... 
how our automatic negative thinking keeps us stuck in the vicious cycle of anxiety...
and what we can do about it. 

We use a strongly worded, but simple, allegory or parable that your brain will readily pick up.  All that's missing is the repetition that you must do every day by reading it.   If you read it over, the message will sink into your brain, and changes will begin to occur.  You will be surprised how well this will work in catching, condemning, and stopping the irrational anxious thoughts and beliefs.

AUDIO SESSION #4:   

Relaxation and calmness for practical use  

This is not a typical relaxation session:  the emphasis here is on how to bring the feelings of calmness and peace out into real-world, every day settings.   The emphasis again is on HOW TO do it.

We become familiar with this relaxation method and the feelings of calmness and peace it brings on.  Then, we learn to use these calm and peaceful feelings outside our home.  The importance of this tape is that you learn to control your feelings of peace and calmness first at home, and then practice and use this control in real world settings.

AUDIO SESSION #5:  

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  Why we need to stop doing what has kept us stuck in the
vicious cycle of anxiety for years and years.  

This strategy is a paradox: it is the opposite of what we expect, but when we understand this, it opens our eyes as to how we can make progress at overcoming social anxiety

Living with anxiety creates more anxiety until we find ourselves in a vicious negative cycle or self-fulfilling prophecy. We learn HOW TO get out of this vicious cycle.

The solution to all our anxiety thoughts and feelings is paradoxical.  We need to understand this, and learn to gently act on it.  No one gets over social anxiety without putting this strategy into effect.  

2.  How to reduce anticipatory anxiety.  Learning a method to stop the anticipatory doubt, worry, and uncertainty we experience before doing something that (in the past) would cause us anxiety.  This is a "small" handout but it can have major effects in stopping gut-wrenching anxiety and worry.

3.  How we see ourselves and the world around us, and why and how our thoughts and beliefs can either help us recover... or continue to cause us crippling social anxiety.  We learn how to become more realistic and rational...and see how we act makes an impression on other people. 

Sometimes anxiety makes us act in a way that others see as "unfriendly" or "stand-offish".   What we can do to make sure others do not see us in this unrealistic light.  It's easy to do and pays great dividends when we work with other people.  It also reduces our anxiety a hundredfold. 

AUDIO SESSION #6:

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  How to use "attitude" statements (rational emotional beliefs) to deflate anxiety.
Your attitudes already have an emotional component to them, so we want to use this positive, determined emotion to deflate that irrational anxiety that causes us so much trouble.  This one should prove easy for you and provide some immediate relief from anxiety when it is used. 

2.  Why you have setbacks: You can't be "set back" without making some progress.  How to see setbacks differently and turn them around for our good.  Setbacks do not feel good when they occur, but they are a sign of progress.  So you can learn to come out of a setback with more strength and internal power to use against social anxiety.

3.  How to see ourselves more realistically, part two, and how and why our view of ourselves and the world may be inaccurate.  How to start the process of seeing things from a rational, as opposed to emotional, standpoint.  Sometimes small things we do can make a big difference.  You'll see what we mean in this session.

4.  The power of your "belief" system.  What your existing beliefs do to you, and how we can start using our new, rational beliefs to overcome social anxiety.  Old, irrational, and unproductive beliefs can be changed -- and we are gently going to do it.  If we do it in the right way, your new rational beliefs will become automatic, and those old, irrational beliefs will be gone!

AUDIO SESSION #7:

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  Simple strategies to "de-stress" a situation.  We learn to take anxious thoughts and feelings and reduce them down to size.  We have been over-exaggerating our fears.  Here's how we learn to pull them down to size. 

2.  How people may be viewing you, and specifically what you can do about it.  Some simple, easy things you can do to make sure you are being seen in an accurate, rational light.

3.  How and why to accept (i.e., to feel OK about)  yourself right now this very moment...and why this is important to overcoming social anxiety.  We all have to heal from the wounds that social anxiety causes.  It is rational to do this, and necessary if we want to live a better, content, and productive life.  This handout can bring you peace and healing.

4.  How to turn the tables on the ANTs, part 1. 
Now that we have learned to stop and catch automatic negative thinking, we need to slowly and systemically introduce new thoughts to our mind in a rational manner.   How to do this in a way that will work permanently.  The human brain WILL change if we know and understand the process by which it changes.

SESSION #8:

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  How to turn the tables on the ANTs, part two.
We continue to change our old negative irrational thoughts... into more truthful rational thoughts and beliefs. 

2.  How to turn the tables on the ANTs, part three
Why it is necessary to first go "neutral" with our anxious thoughts instead of going positive.  What your brain will accept...and what it won't.

3.  How you are changing your brain chemistry permanently:
What is really going on inside your brain, physiologically, as you get recover.

4.  How to "Mingle" with other people and make "small talk" easier.
After all, small talk is called small talk...because it is...small.

5.  How to carry on a conversation with other people comfortably.  How to be more calm and at ease and remember what other people are saying to you.  

SESSION  #9:

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  We have every right to feel good about ourselves.  How and why we deserve it and how to make our thinking about our self more rational.

2.  How to respond to socially-anxious feelings:  
An allegory:  What we can learn from the bears and the bees.

3.  Why "feelings" and "emotions" can be wrong.  Why they "lie" to us, and why we must stop believing irrational feelings. 
Then, how to stop believing these anxious, irrational feelings.

4.  How to stop worrying and move forward with your life.
Worry never contains a solution, and it always leads you in the wrong direction.  How and why to stop worrying... and start living.  

SESSION  #10

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.   We know that ANTs are irrational, bullying liars.  What we can do to stop these bullying thoughts and beliefs in their tracks.  

2.  The importance of knowing why some thoughts are poisonous to us, and how we can take the initiative and act against them.  We learn to act against our irrational thoughts and feelings gently...step by step so that anxiety is reduced in the process. 

3.  How we were brainwashed into having social anxiety, and how
we will "wash our brain" to overcome it.

4.  How to think in a rational and positive direction. 
New, rational thoughts we need to sink down into our brain deeply.  

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  How to focus externally, outwardly... and stop listening to your internal worries, anxieties, and fears.

2.  "I Can't Do It!" thinking and how to change it.   You will be surprised that you can do many more things than you imagine right now, if we learn to go about it in the appropriate way.  We discuss how to get going in the appropriate way to overcome social anxiety...by NOT facing our biggest fears all at once.

3.  More probing questions for our brain:
"The Power Statements": Why should we let other people cause us emotional pain?  Why should we let our own thoughts cause us depression and pain?
Why should we let other people get under our skin?
These are all rhetorical questions, but you CAN apply them directly to your life and learn how to deal with situations and people in a rational way.

4.  The Profound Concept:
Why we must start slowly DOING things before we begin to FEEL better.
We can't wait around to "feel better" before we act...otherwise, we'll be waiting around forever.  Why taking the initiative first -- allows you to feel less anxious, more calm, more confident, and more at peace.

5.  Why to avoid irrational expectations.  Why irrational expectations can harm us, and how to develop healthy and rational expectations.

6.  The Vicious Self-Fulfilling Anxiety Cycle:  How to kick dents in it, shrink it, and gradually step out of it.

SESSION #12

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1. Why it is important to act against your negative feelings (i.e., anxiety, frustration, irritation, anger, fear, and depression).  When you act against your negative emotions in the proper manner, your negative emotions have no choice but to shrink. 

2.  Why we sometimes feel we are living in a hostile world... and how we can start to see our life more realistically and rationally, so that we can be happy.

3.  Changing our sometimes warped perceptions of the world around us by focusing on the good, the better, and the beautiful.  

4.  Eliminating anxiety and fear from our lives: Remember, the solution is still a paradox.

SESSION #13

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  Targeting the Emotional Brain (the mid-region section):
Stay out of the twilight zone ... move into the peace zone.  We want our good, healthy and positive feelings (emotions) to grow ...  and we want to FEEL them.  The Peace Zone concept gives us a strategy to FEEL these positive and healthy emotions --  as we practice our therapy (in our quiet time at home).

2.  Seeing and focusing on the present.  
How and why to stay focused on the present moment and be happy in it.  When we are content in the present moment, we never need to worry about the future ... you will be setting yourself up for contentment and peace.  

3.  Why acceptance of yourself and your progress is important.
How to "feel" the acceptance, the relaxation, and the peace.  Why we must stop fighting and start accepting ... how feeling this acceptance speeds our recovery..

4.  Determined Slow Talk:
Another method to use (at home) that allows us to FEEL relaxation, calmness, peace, and eventually confidence.  Using this method allows us to FEEL these emotions... and yes, we need to practice on growing our positive emotions, just as we practice on our cognitive therapy.

5.  Peace Zone: You are standing at the crossroads...
and have many important decisions to make... why it is easier now to see we have more choices and options than we thought at first, and how to keep making good choices and decisions

6.  Peace Zone: Rain is a paradox ...
On one hand it can darken the sky and ruin your day ... on the other hand, it can water the fields and the flowers and bring forth new life ...
How it will help you get better...

SESSION #14

Specific behavioral therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

This is the first session to specifically cover the behavioral aspect of therapy.

1.  Behavioral therapy: the beginning
Why flooding does not work for social anxiety.  Why the opposite of flooding -- avoidance -- also does not work.  How to move forward in your life in a safe and appropriate way -- so that you can make progress and feel confident.  What to do -- and what NOT to do.

2.  The Power of "Acting":
Behavioral therapy you can use in your own life.  How to get started and how to choose the right things to do.  

3.  The importance of a behavioral group, if possible.  If a group doesn't exist, then one other person you could work with would be helpful. 
A comprehensive cognitive-behavioral therapy group is explained.   What is a social anxiety group like?   Why is it so different from other groups?   What do we do in a CCBT group?  How to get started and realize it is nowhere near as scary as you are thinking right now.  

4.  The behavioral "hierarchy":
What it is and how to use it.  A copy of it is in the workbook.  Determining where to start on your hierarchy ... basic rules for the behavioral group (e.g., no one is forced or coerced to do anything they do not want to do, etc.)  This must be a social anxiety behavioral group only -- mixes do not work -- why being around other people with social anxiety can be therapeutic and liberating as we work together to get better.

SESSION #15

Specific behavioral therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

Behavioral therapy, part two

1. The social anxiety behavioral group and how it works, part two

2.  Specific behavioral activities to help you work gradually up your hierarchy, part 1
group activities and individual activities within the therapy group are fully explained

3.  How to cut down on self-consciousness:
What you can do to reduce self-consciousness in your own life. 
How to get started in the proper way.

4.  How to be assertive (not aggressive) when necessary
Why being assertive is important, how to learn to do it comfortably, and why it reduces our anxiety (surprise!).  When we need to be assertive,
we no longer need to be a doormat for anyone.  

5.  Small "experiments" you can do in your life today.
How to experiment in the right way .. what to do to get started .. and how to continue "experimenting" to prove to yourself what is rational and true.  You will also be proving to yourself that irrational anxiety is a thing of the past.

SESSION  #16

Specific behavioral therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  Continuation of the behavioral therapy group and its activities
Examples of all the major behavioral group activities are explained:
The circle of death, the stare chair, self-assertion role plays, pass the conversation, the house shout, true confessions, impromptu questions, popcorn questions, mingling parties, hello - I'm here!, etc.

2.  Behavioral activities and experiments you can do on your own, part two... how to start at the right place and move up from there slowly and successfully.... 
 

SESSION #17

Specific cognitive therapy methods we discuss, 
with a full explanation and printed handout: 

1.  The role that repressed or buried anger plays in keeping our social anxiety alive.
How our buried anger may be causing us trouble today
and fanning the flames of our social anxiety.  
What we can do about it ...
so that we can move forward with our life, and leave the past in the past.

2.  Letting go of the negative past.
A "peace zone" handout specifically designed to allow us to release buried anger in the only way that works for social anxiety.  This must be handled gently, peacefully, and with our positive emotions. 
We cannot forget the past -- that is neurologically impossible -- but we can learn to lose the negative feelings associated with traumatic events in the past.  But, we must be careful and do this in the right manner... this is a peaceful process.

3.  What to do when the ANTs come crawling.
This is not a new method for us at this point, but it pulls together the therapy from several other places and reinforces this for us.  We always need to know what to do when we feel anxiety or depression calling .... and we must practice at this method...

4.  Why it is important to stay away from perfectionism and pressure
We can only do our best....and that's all we can do.  Then, we move on.
Trying to be "perfect" only adds fuel to the fire and increases our social anxiety.  How we can stop the double "p's" of perfectionism and pressure...

5.  The Perfectionism Pit
Why the need to be perfect increases social anxiety and how to stay out of this pit.

SESSION #18

These are the reinforcing or supplemental additions that fit right in with the cognitive and "emotional brain" therapy we have already been doing...and they deliberately reinforce essential concepts.  You will probably also find them to be relaxing and calming.

Side One: Moving into The Peace Zone

Side Two:  Seeing the Present

SESSION #19

These are additional reinforcements of the following essential concepts in overcoming social anxiety:

Side One:  The Deserving Statements

Side Two: How to Let Go of the Negative Past

SESSION  #20

How to put the cognitive and the behavioral therapy together ...
why this "synthesis" is important ...

Why continued repetition is necessary until social anxiety is gone...

What to do if you don't have a behavioral therapy group to attend and how to go about starting one...

You are the sculptor of your own life now. 
This is easier to realize at this time than it was when you began the series.  How to keep going and realize you have this power and control over your life....you have many more reasonable and rational choices than you once thought....

Positive and rational thoughts to dwell on ....

Order  Here
"Overcoming Social Anxiety: Step by Step"
 

How have other people with social anxiety disorder responded
to this cognitive-behavioral therapy?

 Important Note:   Listening to the tapes and then setting aside a thirty (30) minute period of time EVERY DAY -- while you are alone -- to practice, repeat, reiterate, and reinforce these methods and strategies is essential to overcoming social anxiety.  It is important that you are motivated to overcome SA -- by keeping up with your 30-minute practice time every day.  The series explains very explicitly how to do this.  Cognitive therapy is not difficult.  The only difficult part is being persistent and consistent with your practicing.

From experience, we believe this audio therapy series will prove much more helpful than books or articles because things are explained to you in detail, with examples, and you always have something tangible to practice and work on.   

Proposed International Group Dates:
June 7 through June 25, 2010
Audio Therapy Price Reduction:  "Overcoming Social Anxiety: Step By Step"
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©Copyright  2010, 1996,  The Social Anxiety Institute, Inc.
Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., Director