Stephen Chan hypnotherapist and licensed Thrive Programme® Consultant can help you to overcome social phobia and social anxiety using Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy and the Thrive Programme® at Ulster Hypnotherapy: covering Belfast, Portadown, Ulster, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh, Antrim, Lurgan and Dungannon, Northern Ireland

If you are looking for help with social anxiety/social phobia with permanent results, please don’t hesitate to contact me now to arrange for a free initial consultation.

What is social anxiety?

Social anxiety is the fear of being judged, or being humiliated or put ‘on the spot’.

What is social phobia (Sociophobia)?

social_anxiety1Social phobia is a fear of embarrassing, or humiliating ‘on the spot’ type situations (in public) otherwise known as social anxiety, social anxiety disorder, or fear of being judged.

Social phobia is the 4th most common phobia there is and the one I am most often asked for help with. It’s a pervasive fear of any situation where the person is likely to feel ‘on the spot’, embarrassed, humiliated or judged – for example; dinner parties, public speaking, interviews, appearing in court, singing, stuttering etc. Associated symptoms are; over-sensitivity to criticism, negative self-image, fear of rejection, fear of failure, difficulty in being assertive, and general feelings of inferiority.

On a more general level, the social phobic can worry continuously about how others ‘see’ them and what others may be thinking about them. It is not surprising then that a person with social anxiety usually spends a lot of time creating the image they want others to see. Usually, they are quite adept at concealing their anxiety from others, although there is quite often a difficulty in maintaining normal eye contact.

Social anxiety treatment

social_anxiety2In a clinical setting (in the U.S.A.) somewhere between 3 – 13% of people were diagnosed with social phobia. Social phobia generally starts in the mid-teens (although it often follows on from ‘being shy’) or can be triggered off by a particularly embarrassing event. As with all phobias and anxieties, any stress a person is feeling will have a significant effect on the ‘strength’ of the anxiety created. In the D.S.M.4 (the Mental Health ‘Bib Generalle’) the main criteria for social phobia is listed as; “a marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur”: in other words, the person fears that he/she will act in a way that will be humiliating or embarrassing.

Some symptoms that may appear alongside (or be caused by) social phobia or social anxiety are…..

  • A fear of public speaking
  • A fear of talking on the telephone
  • A fear of writing in front of someone (even signing a cheque!)
  • Blushing or a fear of blushing
  • Stuttering or stammering
  • A lack of confidence
  • Working too hard (to please others)
  • Setting unachievable high standards and feeling bad when they are not met (perfectionist thinking)
  • A preoccupation with how you look: ‘perfecting’ an image you want others to see (this is NOT vanity – this is about trying to ‘blend in’)
  • Certain twitches or ‘tics’
  • Shy bladder (men especially) not being able to pee, when on the spot or in public toilets
  • Certain sexual inhibitions – due to ‘performance anxiety’
  • Repeated failure of driving test etc – due to ‘performance anxiety’
  • A persistent fear of failure or ‘not making the grade’
  • Basically, any situation in life where you might feel embarrassed, on the spot, judged, silly, out of control etc.

Jenny overcame her social anxiety with me – so can you!

Carmel overcame her fear of public speaking with me – so can you!

Graham overcame his social anxiety with me – so can you!

Contact me at Ulster Hypnotherapy to arrange a free consultation

Phone me on 07854877882.

You can now arrange Thrive Programme® sessions anywhere in the world via Zoom.

I offer a free confidential consultation at my Portadown, Newry and Belfast Hypnotherapy clinics, which are within easy reach of Lisburn, Armagh, Antrim, Lurgan and Dungannon. Consultations are also available via Zoom.

There will be no need to speak to anyone other than myself and I promise that your problems will be discussed with the greatest of sensitivity and strictest confidence. Please note because of the volume of clients there is a strong possibility you will be connected to my personal answering service. If this is the case just leave your name and number and, when I return the call, I will not give my name and I will ask for and talk only to you.

YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IS GUARANTEED