Author Tames Social Anxiety With 2 Therapist Questions
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 28
Author Tames Social Anxiety With 2 Therapist Questions
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 28
Summary
Two questions — “What’s the worst that could happen?” and “And then what?” — became the author’s main tool for interrupting spirals over social situations.
The therapist used them near the end of treatment to force a realistic endpoint: even after embarrassment, the author could simply go home, sleep and start again the next day.
That reframing helped in concrete moments that once felt unbearable, including a first-day university introduction, dates, job interviews and a move from the UK to Australia.
The author says the technique still works in everyday encounters, turning social anxiety from something that dictated avoidance into something that can be managed in real time.