Martin M. Antony

Karen Rowa

Social anxiety is characterized by excessive anxiety or discomfort in situations where a person might feel judged or evaluated by others, including performance situations (e.g., being the center of attention, public speaking, working under observation, playing sports or music in front of an audience) and situations involving interpersonal contact with others (e.g., making small talk, meeting new people, dating). According to large-scale epidemiological studies, social phobia is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders. Although prevalence estimates vary, recent studies suggest that approximately 7% of Americans suffer from this disorder. In addition to the high percentage of people with symptoms meeting criteria for this disorder, many other individuals experience social anxiety or shyness to a lesser, but still impairing degree. Social phobia is also a common comorbid condition, often diagnosed along with other anxiety disorders. Taken together, this information suggests that practitioners are likely to encounter patients displaying some degree of social anxiety, no matter what specialty service or setting they occupy. Although social anxiety is a widely encountered problem, there are few resources available to provide straightforward, accessible assessment and treatment information for practitioners. This book aims to fill that gap. Over the past 20 years, effective tools have been developed to identify and treat individuals with social anxiety. The current book provides up-to-date information on the diagnosis, identification, conceptualization, and treatment of social anxiety and social phobia. This book is aimed at practitioners who practice in a broad range of settings, from specialty clinics to general practice, as well as students. Existing books tend to focus on the psychopathology of social anxiety, address multiple disorders in one volume, or provide extensive and detailed protocols for treating this disorder. In

Social Anxiety Disorder

Martin Antony

It’s hard for anyone to go about his or her day without crossing a bridge, scaling a ladder, or climbing an exterior stair case. Fear of heights can make air travel difficult or impossible; even a ride in an elevator can be a challenging and disruptive experience. Fortunately, specific phobias are among the easiest psychological problems to treat, with fear of heights being very treatable. With a safe and effective exposure-based cognitive-behavioral program to work with, most sufferers will experience relief from their fear after only a few sessions. This book distills the most effective treatments for acrophobia into an easy-to-follow, effective program for overcoming fears for good.

Karen Rowa

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