Hypnotherapy for Social Anxiety
If you experience social anxiety, you might feel very self-conscious in social situations. Perhaps you have trouble finding your words, feel dizzy, shaky, sweat or blush, which only makes you feel even more self-conscious.
In reality most people don't realise when someone is feeling self-conscious, as they are more preoccupied with what they are doing or saying themselves, but for someone experiencing social anxiety it can feel like they are constantly being judged by others.
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Social anxiety can be limited to certain situations, like dating or public speaking, but it can also affect many areas of someone's life, even making eye contact with another person painfully difficult and can lead to isolation and loneliness.
Understanding Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is more than just shyness or nervousness. It's an intense fear of social situations where you might be observed, judged, or embarrassed. This fear can be so overwhelming that it interferes with your daily life, relationships, and career.
The physical symptoms are very real - your body's fight-or-flight response activates even though there's no actual danger. Your mind perceives social situations as threatening, triggering the same response you'd have if facing a real threat.
Social anxiety can be linked to low self-esteem and depression and can be caused by unpleasant or stressful social experiences such as bullying and family conflict. Sometimes it develops in childhood, other times it appears in adolescence or even adulthood after a particularly difficult social experience.
Common Signs of Social Anxiety
You might be experiencing social anxiety if you:
• Feel intense fear or dread before social events, sometimes days in advance
• Worry excessively about embarrassing yourself or being judged
• Avoid social situations whenever possible, even if it means missing out on opportunities
• Experience physical symptoms like sweating, trembling, blushing, rapid heartbeat, or nausea in social settings
• Find it difficult to make eye contact or speak to people you don't know well
• Replay social interactions in your mind afterwards, criticising yourself
• Fear that others will notice your anxiety symptoms, which makes the anxiety worse
• Struggle with everyday activities like eating in public, using public toilets, or making phone calls
• Have difficulty making or maintaining friendships due to social fears
If you experience any of these, hypnotherapy can help.
The Anxiety That Doesn't End When the Event Does
One of the most exhausting aspects of social anxiety is what happens after the social interaction is over. You might find yourself replaying conversations over and over in your mind, analysing everything you said and did. "Why did I say that?" "Did I sound stupid?" "They must think I'm rude / so weird."
This post-event processing can go on for hours, days, or even weeks after a social situation. You might lie awake at night cringing at something you said, or suddenly remember an interaction from years ago and feel a fresh wave of embarrassment.
This constant self-criticism and rumination keeps the anxiety cycle going. You feel anxious before social events, during them, and long after they're finished. It's mentally exhausting and can make you want to avoid social situations even more.
The good news is that hypnotherapy can help break this pattern. We work on reducing the compulsive replaying of events, quieting your inner critic, and helping you develop a more compassionate, realistic perspective on your social interactions.
Types of Social Anxiety
Social anxiety can manifest in different ways:
Performance Anxiety - Fear of performing in front of others, such as giving presentations, speaking in meetings, or performing music or sport.
Dating Anxiety - Intense nervousness about dating, romantic situations, or meeting potential partners.
Generalised Social Anxiety - Anxiety in most or all social situations, making daily life very challenging.
Specific Situation Anxiety - Fear limited to particular scenarios like eating in public, using public transport, or attending parties.
Whatever form your social anxiety takes, hypnotherapy can help you overcome it.
How Hypnotherapy Helps Social Anxiety
With a combination of evidence-based hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, I help my clients overcome social anxiety. As a South East London hypnotherapist specialising in anxiety, I use an integrative approach tailored to your specific needs.
Powerful visualisation techniques help you rewire your anxiety response, allowing you to imagine and then experience social situations with calm and confidence. Through repeated practice in the safe space of hypnotherapy, your unconscious mind learns new, positive responses to social situations.
Breathing and relaxation techniques instil a sense of calm and control that you can use in real-world situations. These become automatic tools you can access whenever you need them.
Addressing root causes - I can also help you resolve any past trauma that may be causing a negative self-perception and contributing to feelings of social awkwardness. Many people with social anxiety have experienced bullying, rejection, or criticism in their past. By gently working through these experiences using trauma-informed techniques, we can reduce their power over your present life.
Building confidence - Social anxiety is often linked to deeper issues around self-worth and confidence. We work on strengthening your sense of self and helping you recognise your own value, independent of others' opinions.
What to Expect in Your Social Anxiety Hypnotherapy Sessions
First Session: We'll explore your specific social anxiety - what situations trigger it, how it manifests, and how it's impacting your life. I'll explain how hypnotherapy works and begin introducing relaxation techniques. You'll leave feeling calmer and more hopeful.
Subsequent Sessions: Each session builds on the last. We'll use hypnosis to help you visualise yourself feeling confident and comfortable in social situations. We'll work on changing the automatic anxiety response and building new, positive associations with social interactions.
Between Sessions: You'll have practical tools to use in real situations - breathing exercises, positive suggestions, and techniques to interrupt anxious thoughts before they spiral.
Most clients notice they feel more comfortable in social situations within just a few sessions, with continued improvement over time.
The Connection Between Social Anxiety and Other Issues
Social anxiety rarely exists in isolation. Many of my clients also experience:
• General anxiety - worrying about many aspects of life, not just social situations
• Low confidence - difficulty believing in yourself and your abilities
• Perfectionism - setting impossibly high standards and fearing judgment if you don't meet them
• Past trauma - previous experiences of bullying, rejection, or criticism
The good news is that by addressing social anxiety with hypnotherapy, we often improve these related issues at the same time. As you become more confident socially, you often feel more confident in other areas of your life too.
Social Anxiety Therapy in South East London and Online
​I offer social anxiety hypnotherapy both in person at my South East London therapy room and online throughout the UK. Online sessions are just as effective as face-to-face sessions and can actually feel less intimidating if you're experiencing social anxiety.
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Many of my socially anxious clients prefer to start with online sessions from the comfort and safety of their own home, and then transition to in-person sessions once they feel more confident. Others prefer to stay online throughout. The choice is completely yours.
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If you also experience general anxiety or struggle with confidence these pages may be helpful too.
You Don't Have to Live with Social Anxiety
It can feel like you're stuck with social anxiety for life, but it doesn't have to be that way. With the right support, you can learn to feel comfortable and confident in social situations. You can build friendships, advance in your career, enjoy social events, and live the life you want.
Hypnotherapy offers a gentle, effective way to overcome social anxiety by working with your unconscious mind to create lasting change.
Ready to Overcome Social Anxiety?
Don't let social anxiety hold you back from living the life you deserve. Contact me today to arrange your free 15-minute discovery call where you can ask any questions and find out how hypnotherapy can help you.
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Email Suzy@luminouslifetherapy.co.uk
or contact me by text, phone or whatsapp on 07832 460332