Social Anxiety: More than a Social Fear
by Roamers Therapy | July 2021
Life’s challenges can be overwhelming; everyone deserves a space to feel heard and supported. At Roamers Therapy, we provide trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and evidence-based environments to help you heal, grow, and navigate your mental well-being journey. As your psychotherapist, we are here to guide you every step of the way.
Social anxiety may take the form of several mental and physical symptoms.
We may find ourselves thinking about how others interact with us and how we interact with them. We may find ourselves constantly evaluating our actions and how others might perceive us in social interactions. We may find ourselves ruminating, replaying in our minds what could happen if we said or did something differently, and rehearsing upcoming social interactions to avoid embarrassment. Physically, we might notice our heart pounding, have the urge to escape, tremble, sweat, and even panic.
Whether mental, physical, or both, these experiences are debilitating and interfere with our daily functioning. For example, social anxiety may lead to avoidant behavior such as isolation from others, avoiding social interactions altogether, avoiding long social conversations, and more. As a result, we may fail in maintaining our friendships and social circles; we may even avoid scheduling a therapy appointment to seek support.
Social anxiety keeps us from being our best authentic selves. With the support of your therapist, you can create a safe and validating space to explore your experiences, you can develop personal therapy goals, and engage in targeted interventions. These interventions are designed more than to alleviate symptoms but to enhance your sense of self and recover your self-esteem, and empower the identities you hold, for you to thrive in life.
Key takeaways:
- Social anxiety disorder is more than a fear of public speaking.
- Social anxiety disorder may include negative thinking about and during social interactions, avoidant behaviors (e.g., isolation), and physiological symptoms.
- Through psychotherapy, you can create a safe and validating space to explore your experiences. Aside from interventions targeting emotions, behaviors, and thoughts, you can also work on empowerment so that you can be your best authentic self.
At Roamers Therapy, our psychotherapists are here to support you through anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship issues, race-ethnicity issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, ADHD, Autism, or any challenges you encounter. Our psychotherapists are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Acceptance, and Commitment Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Gottman Therapy.
Whether you’re seeking guidance on a specific issue or need help navigating difficult emotions, we’re ready to assist you every step of the way.
Contact us today to learn more about our services and schedule a session with our mental health professionals to begin your healing journey. To get started with therapy, visit our booking page.
First, decide if you’ll be paying out-of-pocket or using insurance. If you’re a self-pay client, you can book directly through the “Book Now” page or fill out the “Self-Pay/Out-of-network Inquiry Form.” If you’re using insurance, fill out the “Insurance Verification Form” to receive details about your costs and availability. Please let us know your preferred therapist. If your preferred therapist isn’t available, you can join the waitlist by emailing us. Once your appointment is confirmed, you’ll receive intake documents to complete before your first session.
This page is also part of the Roamers Therapy Glossary; a collection of mental-health related definitions that are written by our therapists.
While our offices are currently located at the South Loop neighborhood of Downtown Chicago, Illinois, we also welcome and serve clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Rogers Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more. You can visit our contact page to access detailed information on our office location.