How to Help Your Teen with Social Anxiety: Teen Therapist Tips
Social anxiety can be a challenging experience for teenagers, impacting their social development, academic performance, and overall well-being. As a parent, you can help them in a few crucial ways. Here are Shade Tree Family Counseling, we offer teen counseling with our compassionate teen therapists are excited to help teens and their families find their way out of the maze of negative beliefs that slow down their lives.
First, you must understand and have patience and compassion for what your teen is going through. Anxiety can be very confusing to navigate and so overwhelming that it’s common to just try and ignore and avoid even talking about it. Before you can help your teen with anxiety, you must first show them your patience and acceptance of their challenges. If these things are felt, they will let you help them with a plan to overcome the anxiety.
Identify Reality
It is crucial to determine whether the fears have actually occurred or could occur. Often, the fear has never occurred and is highly unlikely to occur. If your teen can also see that there have been many situations where the feared outcome did not happen, they may be willing to experiment in a small way to see that the fear will not occur. This is referred to as an “exposure.”
As parents, when we see our kids suffer, our natural instinct is to protect them by shielding them from any more pain or hardship. But anxiety requires the exact opposite. Anxiety does not go away by avoiding the feared experience; it goes away by leaning into it. Slowly and gradually….
Encourage Gradual Exposure
Exposure to a feared situation over and over can eliminate the fear and help a person let go of the anxiety. Exposure is a crucial element of being successful in getting rid of social anxiety.
Start by identifying the most feared situation and then work backward to identify situations that are less and less scary. Imagine a flight of stairs with the biggest fear at the top. You then want to start at the bottom step with the least scary event and work your way up. I recommend drawing out the steps and writing down each event on each step. You may need to repeat a step until there is little to no stress when doing the event. Practice in a controlled environment first with people whom you can be sure will not enact the feared response.
Make sure you praise every try, even if they do not get through the whole exposure. Just being willing to try is what you want to keep going.
Teach Coping Skills
Your teen will need to know how to manage their low-grade anxiety as they try each exposure. The following coping skills are the most helpful. I recommend having at least one of these as a preferred and well-practiced go-to skill.
Deep Breathing Exercises: Guide them through slow, deep breaths to calm their nervous system. There are many guided exercises on YouTube or apps like the Calm App you can use. Ideally, your teen will practice this at least 5 times so their body knows what it feels like to be calm.
Mindfulness Techniques: Encourage them to focus on the present moment to reduce overthinking. Again, there are many apps that can help your teen practice the feeling of keeping the mind in the present moment.
Positive Self-Talk: Help them challenge negative thoughts and replace them with more realistic and positive ones. The best way to do this is by having them write a list of all the negative beliefs that run through their mind. Then write all the positive statements to counteract the negative thoughts.
Professional Support and Teen Counseling Options for Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety can be very challenging to cure and can take time and persistence. If you feel like this is all too much or you have tried on your own but it’s not working, then it’s time to seek some professional help. Often, the neutral space of a therapy office to practice can help your teen gain the momentum and courage they have been lacking.
Common teen counseling techniques you will find in a therapy experience for Social Anxiety are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
But, sometimes, even with all the support you and a therapist offer, a teen can still not make the progress they were hoping for. This is when it's reasonable to consider a medication to lower the anxiety in a way that they can begin to access all the skills. There should be no shame in this. Neuroscience has shown us that some anxiety has genetic roots and that some people are just built with less dopamine and serotonin. You will be able to discuss these options with a therapist and make the best choice for your teen.
Evaluate Their Environment
If you think that their school environment is contributing to their social anxiety, you can reach out to the school counselors or psychologists to make a plan to reduce the stress at school. It is not uncommon to craft a class schedule that includes breaks that support your teen in reducing stress.
Don’t Forget the Basics! Promote a Healthy Lifestyle
Physical and mental health are interconnected. Encourage habits that support overall well-being.
Adequate Sleep: Ensure your teen gets enough rest.
Balanced Diet: A healthy diet can impact mood and energy levels.
Regular Exercise: Physical activity is a great stress reliever.
Limit Screen Time: Excessive screen time, especially on social media, can exacerbate anxiety.
Finding Support for Your Teen’s Anxiety with Shade Tree Family Counseling
Anxiety is a tricky challenge to solve. Try your best not to get discouraged. Reach out for more help if you get stuck. Here are Shade Tree Family Counseling, we are happy to help with whatever level of assistance you are seeking. We work with individual teens, and we support families with their goals. We look forward to hearing from you should you need our help.
Helping Your Teen Overcome Social Anxiety with Expert Support in Teen Counseling in Salt Lake City, UT
If your teen is struggling with social anxiety and needs extra support outside of home, seeking professional guidance can make a real difference. Teen counseling in Salt Lake City, UT offers structured support, coping strategies, and gradual exposure to help teens build confidence. At Shade Tree Family Counseling, our compassionate therapists work closely with teens and families to navigate anxiety and create lasting positive change. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Book a complimentary 15-minute consultation to explore whether teen counseling is the right fit for your family.
Start working with a supportive teen therapist who understands social anxiety in teens.
Watch your teen begin to overcome social anxiety and find relief!
Additional Services Offered at Shade Tree Family Counseling
At Shade Tree Family Counseling, we’re committed to supporting families as they navigate life’s challenges and strengthen their relationships. Through teen counseling, we guide adolescents in managing anxiety, handling school stress, and developing healthy daily routines. We also offer specialized services, including EMDR Trauma Therapy for processing difficult experiences, Family Counseling to enhance communication and connection at home, and Teen Group Therapy for teens who benefit from peer support. For practical strategies and helpful insights on teen counseling, check out our blog for resources designed to support your family’s journey.