Social Anxiety Treatment
Social Anxiety Treatment in Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Westchester, and Surrounding Areas in Connecticut and New York.
What is Social Anxiety?
Social anxiety is characterized by a strong fear of being judged or embarrassed in various everyday social situations and avoidance of social situations or serious distress during them. People with social anxiety often avoid parties, public speaking, meetings at work, dating, and/or talking to authorities. Symptoms include strong physical sensations in social situations, replaying social interactions in your head, worrying about how you are perceived, and spending days worrying about upcoming social events. Some people have a performance type of social anxiety disorder where they experience intense fear and anxiety during speaking or performing in public but not in other types of more general social situations.
How do you treat Social Anxiety?
We treat social anxiety by using exposure therapy, which has the most research support. We will work with you to gradually and systematically confront feared social situations. Exposure therapy will also show you that feared consequences are unlikely to come true and that anxiety naturally decreases. We will also teach you what causes and maintains social anxiety, and work with you to reframe unhelpful thoughts.
What kind of experience do you have in treating social anxiety?
All therapists have worked extensively with patients with social anxiety. Dr. Sala has received training and supervision in exposure therapy for the treatment of social anxiety by some of the leading experts in anxiety disorders in the country. She has completed training in exposure therapy at UCLA. Please contact her to learn more about her experience with exposure therapy for social anxiety.