Social Anxiety

What Is Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety is more than just shyness. It’s a persistent fear of social or performance situations where one may be exposed to scrutiny by others. It can cause you to avoid situations you care about, such as dating, friendships, or work opportunities, out of fear of saying the wrong thing or being negatively perceived. Often, it begins early in life and becomes part of how a person relates to the world.

At its core, social anxiety is a fear of disconnection — of not belonging, not being accepted, or being rejected. While it can feel isolating and deeply ingrained, it’s also something that therapy can help you understand, manage, and overcome.

How Therapy Can Help

We take a compassionate, individualized approach to treating social anxiety. Many clients find that therapy helps them build insight into the roots of their anxiety and gain tools to feel more confident and connected in their relationships.

Relational Psychotherapy

Relational therapy focuses on the therapeutic relationship as a space to explore how you relate to others. As you feel seen, accepted, and understood in therapy, it becomes easier to carry that confidence into the rest of your life. This approach helps rewire the internalized belief that others are unsafe or rejecting.

Psychodynamic and Transference-Based Therapy

These approaches explore how early life experiences, especially those with caregivers or peers, shape your current fears, defenses, and interpersonal patterns. Often, what feels like irrational social fear makes perfect sense when we understand your history. Through gentle exploration and working through transference in the therapy relationship, we help you build self-awareness and shift long-standing emotional patterns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a skills-based approach that helps you identify and challenge the unhelpful thoughts that fuel anxiety. For example, if you constantly imagine that others are judging you, CBT helps you test and reframe those beliefs, reducing fear over time.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT helps you regulate intense emotions, tolerate distress, and build interpersonal effectiveness. Many clients with social anxiety struggle with shame, emotional sensitivity, or people-pleasing. DBT offers practical skills for managing those challenges while staying grounded and connected.