Overcoming Social Anxiety and Building Self-Confidence: A Self-Help Guide for Teenagers

Anxiety about embarrassing yourself in social situations is common, particularly amongst teenagers.

Whilst for most these worries are mild, for some young people they are more troublesome and persistent. If you are spending a lot of time feeling shy or worrying about social situations, this can be overwhelming and can have a big impact on your life.

The aim of this book is to help you to understand a bit more about these worries, what you can do about them and how you can reduce your social anxiety and build self-confidence.

Written by clinicians with many years of experience working in services that treat anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, this book follows an approach called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is a really useful way of helping us to make sense of our experiences and overcome the difficulties that we face. CBT is an evidence-based approach, which means that lots of research has been done to evaluate it and show that it can be helpful.

The book uses case studies, engaging illustrations, exercises and accompanying online resources, and includes help and support on:
- Common fears, such as a fear of blushing and feeling stupid
- Dealing with social media
- Social anxiety around relationships
- How to get help from family, friends or professionals if you are struggling. There is also a chapter for parents/carers and families with suggestions on how they can help.

Overcoming for Teenagers is a series to support young people through common mental health issues during adolescence, using scientific techniques that have been proven to work.

Series editors: Associate Professor Polly Waite and Emeritus Professor Peter Cooper

Eleanor Leigh is a Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychologist. She holds a Clinical Research Fellowship at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford and she is based at the Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (OxCADAT). Her research is focused on the understanding and psychological treatment of anxiety disorders in adolescents.

Emma Warnock-Parkes is a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in developing cognitive therapy treatments for Social Anxiety Disorder. She works at the Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (OxCADAT), the University of Oxford and King’s College London. A recognized expert in the field of anxiety disorders, she has run many workshops and presented research at major international conferences.

Elyse Brassard is a student who has successfully dealt with social anxiety. She has been able to work with trained professionals to help learn useful tools to manage and minimise anxiety in her everyday life. She is currently studying A-level psychology, and is keen to apply her knowledge and experiences to help others become more confident in social situations.

David M. Clark holds the Chair of Experimental Psychology at University of Oxford. He is well-known for his pioneering work on the understanding and psychological treatment of anxiety disorders: especially panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, health anxiety and PTSD. Recently, he has also focused on how to disseminate effective psychological treatments within healthcare systems and is one of the architects of the English Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.