Do you feel overly self-aware around other people? Are you constantly worried about what they think of you? Are you unable to start a conversation with strangers, whether that be in a pub or business conference? Do you find yourself eating cold soup because you’re unable to complain to the waiter? Perhaps it’s time to allow yourself to be seen, and your voice to be heard.
Social Anxiety
Not all of us can be silver-tongued extroverts, but that doesn’t mean we have to let introversion or shyness stop us from being able to make new connections in our lives, or standing up for our own reasonable self-interest. By asking the right questions about what prevents you from speaking to that stranger – are you worried about what they will think? Are you worried about you will say? What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen? – we can challenge some preconceptions you may have about yourself, and moreover about other people. Many of my clients come to realise that they worry too much about themselves, preoccupied on their own feelings, rather than focusing on what’s going on around them. The moment they are able to turn their attention outwards, they become surprised by how easy it is to engage with the external world.
Hypnosis south london is a great tool for imaginatively putting yourself in these difficult situations, and exploring how you might cope with them differently, using techniques we’ll practice in our sessions. Roleplaying exercises can be great too, for putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, and realising they are unlikely to respond in the negative ways you have previously assumed. Week-on-week we might set new, small challenges for you to try in between sessions, slowly proving to yourself how much you’re capable of. Renowned psychotherapist Albert Ellis famously cured himself of his shyness by forcing himself to ask 100 women out on dates. While we don’t quite have to go to those extents, your progress can only be measured by how close you come to reaching your goals, whether it’s being able to ask for that refund (hopefully not from me!), networking at your next conference, or asking that lovely young lady at the bar whether you could buy her a drink.