糖心视频

Social Anxiety in Counselling & Psychotherapy

Our second collaborative workshop focussed on working in counselling and psychotherapy with clients who experience social anxiety difficulties. This was the second in a series of four workshops.

We introduced practitioners to the Strathclyde Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Clinic, which ran a specialist research project on social anxiety from 2008 until 2016. We were joined by who was Research Clinic Coordinator at the time of the specialist protocol and is now a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland. Brian spoke about his experiences of setting up and being a researcher in the Social Anxiety protocol. We also shared some of the ways in which the Social Anxiety protocol data has been used in both quantitative and qualitative research projects over the years. We had many fruitful discussions whereby practitioners shared their own insights and experiences of working with socially anxious clients. 

Together, we came up with some basic 'principles for practice' around working with socially anxious clients. You can find a list of the principles we came up with below. 

We invited all our workshop attendees to take part in a follow-up study which is still on-going. The intent is to measure the impact the workshops have had on attendees’ practice and what they have taken away from them. Participation in the follow-up research is entirely voluntary. Read more about the research aspect of the project. 

Principles for Good Practice: Social Anxiety

  • Acknowledge & Stay Present – Recognise anxiety and meet the client where they are.
  • Client-Led Language – Let the client introduce terms; hold diagnoses lightly.
  • Cultural & Individual Sensitivity – Anxiety presents differently across cultures, disabilities, and identities.
  • Curiosity & Exploration – Understand motivations, fears, and be open to creative approaches to exploration.
  • Emotional Safety – Offer unconditional positive regard; create a collaborative, validating space.
  • Normalise & Educate – Challenge stigma and expand understanding of anxiety through psychoeducation when appropriate.
  • Work with Emotions – Identify fear, motivation, and self-protective mechanisms; support expanding tolerance.

Principles collaboratively agreed upon by participants of first workshop (Social Anxiety in Counselling and Psychotherapy on 01/12/2025 - this link opens a PDF document).