Social anxiety is not shyness, and it is not a personality trait you are stuck with. It is a persistent fear of being judged that makes ordinary interaction — a meeting, a phone call, eating in front of people — feel like a performance you are failing.
Most people who have it are far better at hiding it than they think. The cost is usually invisible from outside: jobs not applied for, invitations declined, conversations replayed at 2am for a phrasing that was almost certainly fine.
Does This Sound Familiar
What people describe when they come in for this.
- Rehearsing ordinary conversations before they happen
- Replaying interactions afterward, hunting for what you got wrong
- Avoiding speaking up in meetings, classes, or groups
- Physical tells that become their own worry — blushing, shaking, sweating
- Declining opportunities specifically to avoid the social part
- Feeling exhausted after socializing in a way others do not seem to be
None of this is a diagnosis, and a list on a website cannot give you one. It is here so you can recognize yourself and decide whether the conversation is worth having.
How We Work
What treatment for social anxiety actually involves.
Name The Prediction
Social anxiety runs on specific forecasts about what others will think. Getting those out of your head and into words is what makes them testable.
Drop The Safety Behaviors
Over-preparing, avoiding eye contact, and staying quiet feel protective but keep the fear alive by preventing you from finding out what actually happens.
Practice In Real Settings
Structured, graded practice in the situations that matter to you — not generic exposure exercises, but the meeting or conversation you have been avoiding.
Reduce The Self-Focus
Shift attention outward, so you are participating in the interaction rather than monitoring your own performance in it.
This work happens within anxiety & depression, by secure video anywhere in Texas or New Jersey.
Common questions.
Is social anxiety just introversion?
No. Introversion is a preference — social contact costs energy and solitude restores it. Social anxiety is fear of judgment, and it is present whether or not you want the interaction. Plenty of extroverts have it, and it makes them miserable precisely because they want the connection they are avoiding.
Can therapy over video work for social anxiety?
Yes, and for some people it lowers the barrier to starting at all. The work involves practice in your real settings between sessions rather than only inside the room, so a video format does not limit it.
How do I start therapy for social anxiety?
Call or text (510) 877-0950 to book a free 15-minute consultation. It is a conversation, not an intake — you describe what has been going on, we tell you honestly whether this is something we treat well, and you decide from there. Sessions are held by secure video anywhere in Texas or New Jersey.
Is this covered by insurance?
Usually, yes. We are in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and New Jersey, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Cigna and Oscar, and outpatient mental health treatment is a standard covered benefit on most plans. See our insurance page for how to verify your specific coverage, or ask us at the consultation.
Other concerns we work with
Start with a free consultation.
Fifteen minutes, no commitment. Describe what has been happening and we will tell you honestly whether this is something we treat well.
Book a Free Consultation