Counselling

The Strathclyde Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Social Anxiety

At some point, most people have felt some degree of anxiety in social situations, and roughly one person in eight will experience significant social anxiety at some time in their life.

Social anxiety often causes considerable psychological distress and can lead to additional problems, such as depression, substance misuse, conflict with others, and employment difficulties. However, various forms of psychological counselling or psychotherapy have been shown to be effective in helping people suffering from social anxiety.

An innovative program of Person-Centred/Experiential therapy for people who suffer from social anxiety is being offered at no charge as part of a research study at the Jordanhill campus of the University of Strathclyde. This counselling research study is appropriate for people who are afraid of social situations such as:

• public speaking or talking to people they do not know
• being observed by others or eating in front of them
• being criticized by others or making a fool of themselves

And who find that these fears:

• almost always make them very anxious
• seem irrational or unreasonable to them
• lead them to avoid these situations or seriously interfere with their life

People who have these difficulties may qualify to take part in this research study as valuable participants, evaluating the effectiveness of Person-Centred/Experiential counselling and psychotherapy for dealing with social anxiety. If they wish, those who do not meet the standard criteria for this kind of research will be offered a place in a related research project (also without charge) in our centre, or given a referral.

Volunteer participants will receive up to 20 sessions of specialist counselling, without charge, from counsellors with particular interest in and or experience of social anxiety, in exchange for taking part in the research study. To be eligible, participants must be between 18 and 65 years of age, not in therapy elsewhere, and have significant social anxiety difficulties. All sessions are confidential but will be recorded for research purposes. Participants will be asked to fill out questionnaires before and after each therapy session, as well as to take part in research interviews and questionnaires.

Participants will be welcomed by a researcher who is familiar with the issues of social anxiety and who will make the first contact and conduct research interviews, tracking the participant’s progress though the study.

The project is being led by Professor Robert Elliott, Professor Mick Cooper and colleagues at the Counselling Unit in the Education Faculty of the University of Strathclyde, where they have set up a new research clinic for this and related studies. The Counselling Unit is a leader in counselling training in Scotland and the UK, specialising in Person-Centred/Experiential approaches, which emphasize empowerment and personal development.

If you would like more information about this research project, or know someone who might benefit from receiving therapy for social anxiety, please contact the project coordinator: