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…

REPOSTED: Why Addiction is not a Disease – Interview with Marc Lewis by Kyle on January 7, 2016 Over the next five weeks I’ll be taking a break for the Southern Hemisphere Christmas and Summer Holiday.  So each week I’ll be posting one of my interview podcasts from the last year.  New Episodes from the…

Shame and You by Kyle MacDonald on September 2, 2015 This week on “The Confident Mind” I talk about the emotion of shame, its role in social anxiety, and what makes people more vulnerable to it.  I explore some ways to think about how to combat shame, and included is a short mindfulness exercise that…

Mindfulness and Social Anxiety by admin on June 18, 2013 in Anxiety, Mindfulness I read some exciting new research this week that I wanted to share with you. Brain research has confirmed what us clinicians and teachers of mindfulness have known for a long time: when we learn and use mindfulness skills it helps control…

Stop Watching the News by Kyle MacDonald on May 13, 2015 In this episode of “The Confident Mind,” I talk about how our mind is defined by what we pay attention to, and I use the research into the impact of watching daily television news broadcasts to illustrate the effects and how mindfulness enables us to…

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or “CBT” is a well-established treatment approach of many mental health problems including Social Anxiety Disorder. It helps people observe their thoughts, ideas and beliefs that tend to support or intensify the emotions of anxiety.  At it’s core CBT believes that our thoughts create our emotions, and our thoughts are influenced by…