Welcome. This is Jonathan Berent. I’m going to tell you the real story about social anxiety. You are not going to hear the real story anywhere else. I guarantee you that! This is a deep dive into a complex subject the reality of which remains very misunderstood… so let’s get clinical!

KENDRA age 46, mother of two, is a world renown physician who has headed numerous clinical trials and has saved many lives. She suffered from public speaking anxiety disorder. You may want to listen to her interview which is on the podcast. It’s titled “World Renown Physician Describes Her Cure from Public Speaking Anxiety Disorder”. Mike age 26, a college grad spends most of his life in his room. He doesn’t work, is socially paralyzed, and spends over 100 hours a week with various technology dependencies. His parents walk on “eggshells” for fear of triggering his anger. This has resulted in long- term enabling of what has become an addiction to avoidance.

“Jack”, a standout golfer, discusses the process by which he resolved his conversation anxiety, social avoidance, and obsessive perfectionism. His healing journey started when his parents initiated treatment when he avoided going to a cocktail party during school vacation. He never would have initiated treatment on his own. His anxiety was driven by his fear of sweating and conversation challenges. With his anxiety under control he proactively advanced his career and social life.

“Bill” had achieved a relatively high level of success in sales relying on one to one scenarios and spontaneous interactions with physicians in hospitals. Career pressure and advancement required that he face the anxiety scenarios that he had been very adept at avoiding; group presentations and meetings. In fact he had been avoiding job opportunities due to his anxiety, which he described as “anelephant sitting on my chest when trying to talk”. He had gone to a psychiatrist for help, but did not like the medication route. In this interview he discusses his high performance learning curve which was characterized by confidence implementing the paradoxical technique required for psycho-physiological control and management of sweating and blushing.