Specialty
Social Anxiety Therapy
When being seen feels like being judged
Before the gathering, dread. During it, intense self-consciousness, monitoring every word you say and every reaction on other people’s faces. Afterward, the replay, going over the interaction for hours, cataloguing everything you should have said differently. *
Social anxiety is more than shyness. It is the persistent sense that others are evaluating you and finding you lacking, and it can quietly shrink a life. You decline invitations, stay silent in meetings, avoid dating, or keep relationships at a safe, unsatisfying distance. *
What makes it especially painful is that most people with social anxiety deeply want connection. The fear stands between you and the thing you actually long for. That gap is exactly what therapy can close, and people with social anxiety often make some of the most rewarding progress we see. *
Signs social anxiety may be affecting your life
- Intense worry before social events, sometimes days in advance
- Fear of being judged, embarrassed, or seen as awkward
- Replaying conversations afterward and criticizing your performance
- Physical symptoms around people, blushing, sweating, shaky voice, racing heart
- Staying quiet in groups even when you have something to say
- Avoiding parties, meetings, dating, or speaking up
- Rehearsing what to say before making a phone call
- Feeling watched and evaluated in everyday situations
- Relying on alcohol or a trusted person to get through social events
- Loneliness, because avoidance keeps you from the connection you want
Our approach to social anxiety
Social anxiety usually rests on a deep belief that you will be judged and found wanting, a belief often laid down by earlier experiences of criticism, embarrassment, or exclusion. Avoidance then protects the belief from ever being tested. Treatment gently reverses both, updating the old belief and rebuilding your confidence in real situations, at a pace you help set. *
The work is individualized and integrative. Traditional psychotherapy examines where the fear of judgment took root and how it operates now. EMDR can take the charge out of the formative memories that still fuel it. Clinical hypnosis and somatic work help your body stay settled in the moments that used to trigger alarm, so calm becomes available where you need it, with people. *
Clinicians who specialize in social anxiety
ACT · EMDR · Hypnosis
Dr. Faiwiszewski works with social anxiety across everyday life, from meetings and friendships to situations where you feel evaluated. She helps clients quiet the physical surge of self-consciousness and build genuine ease in connection. *
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EMDR · Hypnosis · Psychodynamic
Dr. Zylstra has particular strength with social anxiety and the fear of judgment underneath it. He helps clients understand where the sense of being scrutinized comes from and supports them in re-entering the situations anxiety has closed off. *
Full profile →Modalities
Therapy approaches that may help
We integrate these techniques, custom-tailored to you, in the order your nervous system can use first.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is social anxiety the same as being an introvert?
- No. Introversion is a preference for how you recharge, and it involves no distress. Social anxiety is fear, wanting connection but dreading judgment. Plenty of extroverts have social anxiety, and plenty of introverts have none. *
- Can social anxiety cause physical symptoms?
- Yes. Blushing, sweating, a shaky voice, and a racing heart are common, and fear of others noticing these symptoms often becomes its own layer of anxiety. Treatment addresses both the fear and the body’s response. *
- Will therapy force me into uncomfortable situations?
- No one pushes you off a cliff. Rebuilding confidence does involve gradually approaching what you have avoided, but the steps are collaborative, well prepared, and paced by you. Most people find it far more doable than they feared. *
- Isn’t therapy itself a social situation? What if that feels hard?
- It is, and that is actually useful. The therapy relationship is a safe place to notice social fear as it happens and work with it directly. Many clients find that sessions become the first social situation that feels genuinely easy. *
- What approaches do you use for social anxiety?
- We integrate traditional psychotherapy with EMDR for the early experiences that shaped the fear of judgment, and clinical hypnosis and somatic work to settle the body in social moments. The blend depends on your history and goals. *
- How long does treatment for social anxiety take?
- Many people feel meaningfully more at ease within a few months, with continued gains as they reclaim avoided situations. Where the fear has deep roots, the work may go longer, and it tends to pay off in every area of life that involves people. *
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