The World in Black and White by Kyle MacDonald on October 14, 2015 In this weeks episode of The Confident Mind I talk about what black and white thinking is, how it drives certain kinds of behaviour and the problems it can cause. I talk about how all or nothing approaches: right and wrong, fair…
Social Anxiety in College: How to Cope With Small Groups 14 September 2015 College / Kyle MacDonald Sometimes one of the easiest places to hide is in a crowd: all those people worried about leading their own lives are highly unlikely to be thinking too much about anyone else jostling amongst them. While some people…
Who is Kyle? Hi, I’m Kyle, and I’m here to help people like you on their path to Overcoming Social Anxiety, and you’ve just taken your first step! If you have Social Anxiety, or feel that your Shyness gets in the way of you achieving what you want in life, then you’re in the right place….
This is a fantastic video that I recently found on the TED site (www.ted.com) “In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world,…
What is Anxiety? by admin in Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Social Phobia Anxiety is simply defined as fear in the absence of anything to be afraid of, but how do we understand that? Firstly, let’s take a look at what fear is… All emotions have a reason for existing and generally that is to quickly and…
The Problem of Avoidance by admin in Anxiety, Avoidance, Fear Fear makes us run away. Which is a good thing. Anxiety also makes us run away, and is largely not a good thing … but why? As I’ve said before anxiety is fear, in the absence of an actual threat (see: What is Anxiety). Now…
Social Media Anxiety: The Good, Bad and the Ugly by Kyle MacDonald in Social Media Different World, Same Issues Very little has swept through our world quite as completely in recent centuries as social media. It’s quite likely you’ve come across this blog via Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and, if you think it’s in any…
The Courage to Give a Speech by Kyle MacDonald in Anxiety, Fear, Public Speaking “There are two types of public speakers. Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” ― Mark Twain Would you rather be dead than give a speech? That’s what most surveys say anyway. When asked about their fears people rank…
There are many decades of psychotherapy and psychiatric literature on the treatment of social anxiety, but they all tend to be one of the following approaches: Medications for social anxiety: Most medication approaches to the treatment of social anxiety tend to focus on the treatment of acute anxiety using sedatives, or the use of modern…
The Social Anxiety Awkward Silence Moment by Kyle MacDonald in Silence Comfortable silence. Awkward silence. Thoughtful silence. Angry silence. It might be a myth, but I’ve heard it said that the Native Aleutian people (Eskimos) have 400 words to describe snow. As a therapist we probably have 200 words to describe silence. Generally though, for those…