In social anxiety, is protection the real problem?

In social anxiety, the anxiety itself is not the problem. The protections we put up—our defenses, safety behaviors, avoidance, ways of hiding who we are, not saying what we think, etc—are the problem. The things we do to protect ourselves from feared outcomes make us more anxious over time AND they push others away and make us hard to connect with.

We'll talk about:

0:00 - Intro

0:35 - PROTECTION is the problem, not anxiety

0:55 - Common types of protection

1:12 - How to change

2:34 - Why we have these protections

3:36 - Don’t control, discover if there is a fit

4:52 - The secret to true connection

5:11 - The importance of lifelong growth

 

I'm Dr. Thomas Smithyman, a clinical psychologist making videos to help people overcome social anxiety.

 

MY BOOK ...coming May 2022.

ONLINE THERAPY I'm not currently accepting new patients for online therapy.

 

My mission here is to use video to help people overcome social anxiety. Most people with social anxiety never seek help, and those who do usually wait 16 years! Treatment is effective but people don't know about it. I'd like that to change, and I'd really appreciate any help.