Overcoming Social Anxiety

By: Ellen Hendriksen, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Ellen Hendriksen

Social anxiety is the perception that something is wrong with us or that we’re deficient in some way in a group setting. And unless we work hard to conceal that perceived flaw, it will be revealed, and people will judge or reject us for it.

Most of us know what it’s like to have a socially anxious moment now and then. But for millions upon millions of people, at some point in life, social anxiety is so serious that it gets in the way of living the life we want to live. Social anxiety disorder is the third most diagnosed disorder. It shows up in our modern lives in all sorts of ways, from agonizing over how to word a text to deciding whether to go out with our friends versus bailing to stay in and watch TV.

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen has made it her mission to use cutting-edge clinical practices and evidence-based treatments to help hundreds of clients reduce their anxiety. In this Audible Original, Dr. Hendriksen provides tools for dealing with social anxiety in the real world, including confronting the problems of perfectionism and making and deepening friendships. You’ll come away with skills you can use anywhere so you can live the life you want to live, and in the process, realize how amazing you already are.

©2023 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC

concise, enjoyable, useful tips

I used to have a lot of social anxiety, now just a bit due to intuitively knowing to challenge myself and think logically in all the ways she suggests. I was curious to hear what someone had to say about it, nevertheless, and found her tips to be great reminders of what has helped me and how i should approach situations that make me anxious. basically, I wish I had this book many years ago, to speed up the process!

good course but a lot of wishful thinking

the course is solid and well-delivered. The content is commonplace but a bit on the wishful thinking side, EG smile, stretch out a hand and the fabulous people in this great world shall meet you halfway. Not so fast. The author seems to presume people "out there" have our best interest at heart, or even care for all that matters. Not so fast. People label and judge all the time, and if we are not Bill Gates, Ron Jeremy and Brad Pitt rolled into one, we have to earn our admission ticket. Then she cites studies, mostly relying on contrived lab conversations with lab assistants disguised as participants hired to chat us up...hmm...not so in the real world. A bit too new age...

Stepping away from anxiety

with the easy to follow guidance, the explanation on anxiety and the working of it. we can walk away with some solid ways to tackle our fears and improve our life.

Helpful and engaging

I’m not usually attracted to self-help audios but I was very pleased with this. Author presents latest research of SAD in an easily digestible friendly but authoritative format. Offers tips and practices easy to implement and broader ideas that were mind opening and food for thought.

VERY valuable to socially anxious people like me

I am a middle-aged highly educated successful individual but struggle with social anxiety. This book has concisely pointed out issues that I have had this whole time and thought it was uncommon. This book excellently points out how to overcome these issues. As a result, I attended a social function at work today that I would typically skip. And I ENJOYED IT! THANK YOU for this excellent book!

A Useful Guide to the Problem

I didn’t think I suffered from Social Anxiety when I started reading this Great Courses book. I picked it up because we all know people who suffer from anxiety, and I thought it might be useful in helping them. I was a little surprised to learn that in the long list of things that are included in “social anxiety” I “suffer” from a few of them. My guess is that everyone does. Hopefully knowing this will create empathy for those who are afflicted by these issues to a greater degree than we are.

This book is essentially a self help guide to finding ways to lessen social anxiety. A lot of the solutions come down to understanding that social anxiety is often caused by unrealistically high expectations which a person has for him or herself. At the root of social anxiety is a lack of self-confidence and a plethora of low self-esteem. This is knowledge we can use to help those around us by giving positive esteem-building feedback and being very patient with their fears.

Extra helpful

Ellen spoke to so many of my everyday feelings, feels like this was written to me. Thank you!

Interesting and accurate course

Interesting and accurate course, but the narrator has a very annoying voice that made me pause the audio a lot :/

It was short and incredibly helpful

I was anxious about starting a new lab course in university where I didn't know anyone. Now, I'm able to chat with almost everyone in my class and already have two lab partners to work with for the semester. This gave me realistic tools to work through my social anxiety. I'd recommend it.