Helping Your Shy and Socially Anxious Client: A Social Fitness Training Protocol Using CBT - Softcover

Henderson PhD, Lynne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608829618 ISBN 13: 9781608829613

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications, 2014

Synopsis

Helping Your Shy And Socially Anxious Client presents a breakthrough therapeutic approach to treating social anxiety.

In a world dominated by extroverts, being shy or socially anxious can make life especially challenging. And while there is nothing wrong with being naturally introverted, avoiding social contact due to extreme fear and anxiety can be very damaging both mentally and physically.

As a therapist, you understand that avoidance can often make a client’s anxiety worse. But many clients with shyness and social anxiety believe they can never change. In fact, they may strategically adjust their lives to avoid social activities or situations that make them uncomfortable. In a sense, they allow their social "muscles" to atrophy, and in the end may become even more alienated and despondent. There is hope.

Just as physical fitness strengthens the body, "social fitness" can be developed through habit and action. In Helping Your Shy and Socially Anxious Client, shyness expert Lynne Henderson presents the Social Fitness program―a twelve session cognitive behavioral model for clients with shyness and social anxiety. Inside, mental health professionals will learn powerful tools for helping clients strengthen their social skills, track their successes, and learn to cope with setbacks or hurdles.

The techniques described in this manual were developed for the Stanford Shyness Clinic by Philip Zimbardo, and are currently being used by the Shyness Institute in Berkeley to educate therapists and other counselors. Find out more at shyness.com.

About this title

About the Author:

Lynne Henderson, PhD, is a psychologist; founder of the Social Fitness Center; founder and codirector of the Shyness Institute in Berkeley, CA; director of applied social research at the Heroic Imagination Project; and author of The Compassionate Mind Guide to Building Social Confidence. Find out more about Henderson’s work at shyness.com.

Foreword writer Philip G. Zimbardo, PhD, is an internationally recognized scholar, educator, researcher, and media personality. He has won numerous awards and honors in each of these domains. He has been a Stanford University professor since 1968, having taught previously at Yale, NYU, and Columbia. Zimbardo's career is noted for his popular PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, along with many text and trade books. He was recently president of the American Psychological Association.

Review:

“In her social fitness model of extreme shyness and social phobia, Lynne Henderson provides a thoughtful and measured road map to guide therapists through the twists and turns of treating a problem that is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Of particular importance, Helping Your Shy and Socially Anxious Client describes the role of high self-criticism in the cycle of social anxiety and avoidance, a cycle that traps socially anxious clients in a toxic emotional mix of fear, shame, and anger. Henderson then describes strategies to help free clients from this emotional quicksand so that that they can live fuller and more meaningful lives.”
―Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, author of Anxiety and Avoidance

“Readers of this volume are fortunate to get the benefit of Lynne Henderson’s deep understanding of social anxiety―understanding based both on her attention to the latest science and on her many years of clinical experience treating individuals who struggle with this problem. An outstanding contribution.”
―Jacqueline B. Persons, PhD, director at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and clinical professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

“Shyness and social anxiety can cause real misery and loneliness in people’s lives. In this important book, Lynne Henderson―one of the world leaders in the treatment of shyness―outlines her social fitness model and offers a wealth of insight into the problems and experiences faced by shy people. Based on considerable experience, as well as carefully researched and traditional cognitive behavior therapy interventions, this sympathetically written and easy-to-understand book will be of enormous help to many therapists for its clear and structured guidance.”
―Paul Gilbert, PhD, author of The Compassionate Mind and Mindful Compassion

“Humans are social animals. For this reason, shyness and social anxiety can be highly distressing and disabling. Fortunately, there are effective psychological strategies to overcome these problems. In her new book, Helping Your Shy and Socially Anxious Client, Lynne Henderson describes a simple, step-by-step treatment approach that is based on decades of research. It is a must-read for every mental health care professional who wants a clear and comprehensive guide to successfully treating these common problems.”
―Stefan G. Hofmann, PhD, author of An Introduction to Modern CBT and professor of psychology at Boston University

About this edition

• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1608829618
• ISBN 13: 9781608829613
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272