One of the best things Social Anxiety Disorder sufferers can do is seek out a good therapist. Studies have proven that medication alone is not enough when treating social anxiety disorder. Psychotherapy or “talk therapy” guided by the help of a good counselor is often essential when dealing with with this disease. However, not every mental health counselor is trained to give you proper social anxiety support. So, it’s important to ask some questions before committing to a therapist. Here are some good questions to ask a counselor you are considering:
1. What percentage of people you treat have social anxiety disorder?
2. Can you tell me the difference in symptoms between panic disorder and social anxiety disorder?
3. Will you help me learn some techniques to change my thoughts or cognitions? If so, what are those techniques?
As you wade into this dialogue you’ll be able to tell very quickly whether or not the therapist is equipped to help you with social anxiety disorder. If they’re not, it does not mean they’re a bad counselor it just means you might need to keep looking until you find someone who specializes in this disorder. Hope this helps!
Don’t Give Up! We can beat this!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
“Great post. Here’s a website that can help you overcome
anxiety disorder without much hassle. You might want to give it a try at http://www.attackanxiety.org“