The Clinical Reality of Social Anxiety
The content in this article will take you past the absurd hype and mis-information that is abundant regarding social anxiety into the beginning of a realistic and productive understanding of the problem! I promise; if the subject of social anxiety is important to you, you will not be bored! At the end of this article […]
Blushing Driven Suicide Opens Door for Understanding of Social Anxiety
July 16, 2012 – The recent tragedy where Brandon Thomas, a 20 year old college student, committed suicide opens the door for an improved understanding of a complex social anxiety disorder which currently impacts countless individuals of all ages worldwide. According to his parents, Brandon’s suicide was driven by his “unbearable blushing”. Most medical professionals, […]
Ex-Michiganders Promote Social Anxiety Awareness in Son’s Memory
Sterling Heights October 16, 2012 By Cortney Casey, C & G Staff Writer The approximately 250 strangers conversing amongst themselves fell silent and turned their attention to Patty Kukes as she stepped to the podium on Sept. 27. It was the kind of setting that would have constituted her son Andy’s worst nightmare. But that […]
Rip Van Winkle Syndrome: Toward a Recovery from Adult Pervasive Social Anxiety
The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. In a pleasant village, at the foot of New York’s Catskill Mountains, lives kindly Rip Van Winkle, a colonial British-American villager of Dutch ancestry. Van Winkle enjoys solitary activities in the wilderness, but he is also loved […]
Selective Mutism Creates Dating Challenge for High Functioning Female with Social Anxiety
“Debbie” is a 24 year old athletic blond with hundreds of young men pursuing her on a dating site. She is currently getting her Masters in Special Education. Her mother initiated treatment after Debbie experienced a stress breakdown at the beginning of graduate school. Because of the anxiety episode Debbie withdrew from school for a […]
Social Anxiety vs Aspergers
Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction. Restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests, which are often abnormally intense and focused, are present. Reading and understanding social cues is usually a challenge for the Asperger individual. A failure to develop relationships, a lack of social […]
How to Control Social Anxiety Panic Attacks
If you were walking down the street and you encountered a saber tooth tiger your fight or flight response would be activated. Every human being experiences the phenomenon of fight or flight. Fight or flight is driven by adrenaline. The social anxiety sufferer of any age experiences fight or flight upon interactive or social challenges. […]
Understanding The Berent Treatment Model for Social Anxiety
In 1976 fresh out of graduate school I was working as a youth worker in a community center. A colleague, with a background in special ed., suggested that we start a socialization group for teenagers with learning disabilities. I had no idea what she was talking about, but we conducted research and discovered there was […]
Integrating the Sarno Method Into Treatment for Social & Performance Anxiety
Since 1978 I have been developing an integrated therapeutic methodology to address the specific needs of social anxiety sufferers. This process has been the exact opposite of trying to fit social anxiety into the narrow confines of one already existing therapeutic modality. Approximately fifteen years ago I integrated the work of John E. Sarno into […]
Narcissistic Thinking in an Avoidance Vortex
I believe I have interacted with more individuals with avoidant personalities than anyone in the world! I’m neither bragging nor complaining. It’s just a fact: It’s my job. As a psychotherapist with more than 35 years’ experience specializing in social anxiety—which is commonly comorbid with avoidant personality disorder—I have treated thousands of people with this […]