Social Anxiety: Assessment and Treatment

Fifteen million, or 7%, of American adults have Social Anxiety Disorder, and more than 3/4 experienced their first symptoms during their childhood or early teenage years (Harvard Medical School, 2007). This course will go over the assessment of social anxiety and effective techniques that can be used to treat clients' symptoms and reduce impairments. Emphasis will be placed on provider skills at recognizing symptoms of social anxiety and differentiating social anxiety from other diagnoses such as generalized anxiety disorder. Participants will learn practical techniques that target the primary symptoms of social anxiety including: psychoeducation, client buy-in, and cognitive and behavioral techniques that target the primary symptoms of this diagnosis.

1.5 hours CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1.5 hours 

CE CREDITS: 1.50 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION:  Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 11/22/2022

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe the clinical and informal tools that increase the accuracy of Social Anxiety Disorder diagnosis
• List at least 2 ways to increase client’s buy-in and motivation for Social Anxiety Disorder treatment
• Identify at least 2 therapeutic techniques that can be used to effectively reduce social anxiety symptoms and impairments
• Describe at least two ways to track and monitor social anxiety symptoms and impairments

1. Social Anxiety Disorder Basics
   1. Defining social anxiety
      1. Surprising DSM5 Diagnostic criteria
      2. Differentiating it from “shyness” or lack of social skill
   2. Contributing factors
   1. Impact of social media on social anxiety
   3. Impact of social anxiety on all aspects of daily functioning
2. Assessment of social anxiety symptoms and impairments
   1. Assessment tools: Clinical instruments
   2. Informal assessment tools used to normalize diagnosis and symptoms
3. Building client buy-in for treatment
   1. Importance of treatment buy-in for social anxiety disorder
   2. Specific interventions to increase treatment buy-in:
      1. Psychoeducation about how avoidance increases anxiety
      2. Motivational interviewing
      3. Art activity visualizing future
      4. Listing life goals (“compass”)
4. Effective treatment approaches to reduce social anxiety symptoms
   1. Therapeutic-setting boundaries: consistent attendance
   2. CBT (distorted thinking counter-thoughts)
   3. Psychodrama (rehearsals)
   4. Exposure ladder
5. Integrating assessment and monitoring into the treatment process
   1. Setting realistic treatment outcome goals and tracking outcomes
6. Adjunct resources for psychoeducation and support
   1. Websites, handouts, social media