Social Anxiety
A user-friendly Cognitive Behavioural Treatment Protocol
Integrate good CBT into your practice
Why do this course?
Believed to affect about one in every eight adults in Ireland, excessive social anxiety can be quite disabling and cause great suffering. For children and teenagers too, it can greatly disrupt school and education experiences. In an age of social media, many studies had been looking at how an increase in online interactions might be leaving us less practiced in (and therefore more anxious about) real face-to-face interactions. And then came COVID-19 and ‘social distancing’ and ‘lock-downs’, where the only way to interact and socialise has been online!
As the world slowly and tentatively re-opens for business, many more people will undoubtedly struggle with this transition. Getting back to the classroom, the college campus, the office…will be an enormous challenge for some. But help is available. Psychotherapy helps. Certain CBT treatment protocols, delivered competently, have proven themselves to be effective for excessive social anxiety and shyness.
NICE1 guidelines recommend that such CBT treatments be delivered by ’trained and supervised people, closely adhering to empirically grounded treatment protocols’. Research is showing, however, that ‘non-cbt’ psychotherapists, who are properly trained (and supervised) in a specific cognitive behavioural protocol - for a specific issue/disorder - can also produce good outcomes. The benefits of this are obvious: effective talk therapies, delivered to a high standard of competency, and accessible to more people, more promptly.
This online course has been carefully designed to provide health practitioners with a structured, easy-to-use, treatment protocol that is suitable to use with clients who present with social anxiety. Whether your established way of working with clients is ‘cognitive behavioural’ or ‘integrative’, this training course will equip you to work confidently and effectively with the client who presents with this issue.
(follow-up training and supervision may be provided on request)
As the world slowly and tentatively re-opens for business, many more people will undoubtedly struggle with this transition. Getting back to the classroom, the college campus, the office…will be an enormous challenge for some. But help is available. Psychotherapy helps. Certain CBT treatment protocols, delivered competently, have proven themselves to be effective for excessive social anxiety and shyness.
NICE1 guidelines recommend that such CBT treatments be delivered by ’trained and supervised people, closely adhering to empirically grounded treatment protocols’. Research is showing, however, that ‘non-cbt’ psychotherapists, who are properly trained (and supervised) in a specific cognitive behavioural protocol - for a specific issue/disorder - can also produce good outcomes. The benefits of this are obvious: effective talk therapies, delivered to a high standard of competency, and accessible to more people, more promptly.
This online course has been carefully designed to provide health practitioners with a structured, easy-to-use, treatment protocol that is suitable to use with clients who present with social anxiety. Whether your established way of working with clients is ‘cognitive behavioural’ or ‘integrative’, this training course will equip you to work confidently and effectively with the client who presents with this issue.
(follow-up training and supervision may be provided on request)
What will I get from this course?
On completion of this one-day workshop, participants will;
- Know the criteria for assessing, diagnosing (DSM V), and measuring Social Anxiety Disorder/Social Phobia
- Have a clear understanding of the differences and similarities between Social Anxiety and Shyness, Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and other anxiety disorders
- Be clear on the theory and the structure of the two CBT treatment protocols for SAD (Clark & Wells ’95 and Rapee & Heimberg ‘97) that are most recommended and most effective.
- Be practiced in having a structured conversation, and developing a cognitive behavioural ‘case formulation’, with the client presenting with SAD.
- Be confident in presenting this case formulation to the client, as a way to understand THEIR social anxiety
- Know how best to present the treatment plan to the client (either as a stand-alone treatment, or as a specific protocol-driven treatment integrated into their broader therapy programme)
- be practiced in ‘cognitive re-structuring’ techniques, as a means to challenge some of the client’s unhelpful thoughts and beliefs about his/her social experiences
- be practiced in applying simple (but powerful) ‘behavioural experiments’ that further help to challenge the client’s beliefs about his/her social experiences
- be able to design and deliver simple ‘graded exposure’ exercises to further enhance client’s benefits from therapy
- Take away a comprehensive digital Resource Pack, with useful information and resources to support you - and your clients - throughout the treatment process.
Is this course suitable for me?
This workshop is influenced by the amazing work being done in the UK on ‘Improving access to psychological therapies’(IAPT). Extensive clinical studies have shown that ‘low intensity’ cognitive behavioural interventions can be delivered, safely and competently, by psychotherapists from different theoretical backgrounds - as well as other healthcare practitioners (GPs, practice nurses, social workers…) if they receive appropriate training.
If you work regularly with clients who struggle with mild-moderate social anxiety, then this course will add tremendously to your skills, and your confidence, in working with this group. Prior introductory training in CBT, while of course beneficial, is not necessary for this course. If you want a high-value learning experience that fully equips you to deliver a proven treatment intervention, with confidence and expertise, then this is the course for you!
If you work regularly with clients who struggle with mild-moderate social anxiety, then this course will add tremendously to your skills, and your confidence, in working with this group. Prior introductory training in CBT, while of course beneficial, is not necessary for this course. If you want a high-value learning experience that fully equips you to deliver a proven treatment intervention, with confidence and expertise, then this is the course for you!
How is the course structured?
This online course has been created using the materials developed for our popular ‘offline’ workshops and is accompanied by a digital version of the Resource Packs normally provided at these workshops. Quality learning demands our full attention, which is why we have arranged this course into short(ish) modules.
There are approximately five hours of audio-visual presentations (PPP's) in total: Eight modules, each about 30-50 minutes long (easily digestible!). Also, you will have opportunities to use simulated therapy clips to add depth to your learning and understanding of key techniques. All of this allows you to complete this course at your own pace and to get the maximum learning value from it.
Each of the four sections is followed by a Quiz – which must be submitted. Submission of the final quiz will signal your completion of the course. The pass mark for the Quiz is 75%.
There are approximately five hours of audio-visual presentations (PPP's) in total: Eight modules, each about 30-50 minutes long (easily digestible!). Also, you will have opportunities to use simulated therapy clips to add depth to your learning and understanding of key techniques. All of this allows you to complete this course at your own pace and to get the maximum learning value from it.
Each of the four sections is followed by a Quiz – which must be submitted. Submission of the final quiz will signal your completion of the course. The pass mark for the Quiz is 75%.
About the Presenter
Rosario has been providing psychotherapy, as an independent practitioner, for the past twenty years. Specialising in treating Depression and the Anxiety disorders, using integrated cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Rosario has remained committed to excellence in the delivery of; psychotherapy, supervision, online resources and courses, and the training of other psychotherapists and healthcare professionals in the delivery of ‘good CBT’, using specific treatment protocols.
With a Masters degree in Family Therapy & Psychotherapy, a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and a certificate in clinical Supervision, among others, Rosario is also an accredited member of both BACP and BABCP.
With a Masters degree in Family Therapy & Psychotherapy, a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and a certificate in clinical Supervision, among others, Rosario is also an accredited member of both BACP and BABCP.