Social Anxiety and Perfectionism: Clinical Tools to Let Go of Unrealistic Standards and Build Real Connections

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Martin M. Antony, PhD, ABPP Related seminars and products

Toronto Metropolitan University

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Martin M. Antony, PhD, ABPP, is a clinical psychologist, professor in the department of psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. He received his PhD in psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Previously, he was founding director of both the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic and the Psychology Residency Program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, and he was provincial clinical and training lead for the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and a past president of the Canadian Psychological Association and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. Dr. Antony has published 34 books and over 300 scientific articles and chapters in areas related to cognitive behavioral therapy and anxiety-related disorders. He has given more than 425 presentations to audiences across four continents, and has been interviewed, featured, or quoted more than 450 times in various print, radio, television, and online media outlets, including The Atlantic, BBC, CBC, Chatelaine magazine, CNN, CTV, Globe and Mail, National Geographic, National Post, The New York Times, O (The Oprah Magazine), Prevention Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Scientific American Mind, Time, Toronto Star, USA Today, The Washington Post, WebMD, and many others.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Martin Antony has employment relationships with Toronto Metropolitan University, McMaster University, and University of Toronto. He is a national speaker and receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Antony receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Martin Antony is a fellow with the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Association for Psychological Science, and the Canadian Psychological Association. He serves as a scientific committee member of Anxiety Canada. Dr. Antony is a member of Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the International Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

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Additional Info

Program Information

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

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Objectives

1. Evaluate the relationship between social anxiety disorder and perfectionism to inform clinical interventions.
2. Conduct interview-based, self-report, and behavioral assessments of social anxiety and perfectionism to inform the clinician's choice of treatment interventions.
3. Practice three cognitive therapy strategies targeting distorted thinking patterns relevant to social anxiety and perfectionism.
4. Differentiate effective versus ineffective principles for designing exposure assignments to alleviate symptoms of social anxiety and perfectionism.
5. Employ mindfulness practices to help clients shift from a control-focused state to an acceptance-focused state to improve treatment outcomes.
6. Construct effective strategies to defuse resistance to change and improve client engagement.

Outline

• Myths and realities of social anxiety
• The transdiagnostic nature of perfectionism
• Best practice assessments for social anxiety and perfectionism
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social anxiety

• Common core beliefs, underlying assumptions, and automatic thoughts of socially anxious perfectionistic clients
• How to catch distorted thinking:
  • Probability overestimations
  • Catastrophic thinking
  • Double standards
  • Overgeneralizations
  • Should statements
  • Selective attention
• Cognitive restructuring done right – thought records and pie charts
• How to design behavioral experiments and surveys that challenge clients unhelpful thought processes
• Imagery rescripting to revisit and resolve painful social memories
• Avoid common cognitive therapy mistakes and troubleshooting for common issues
• Adaptations for working with children and adolescents

• Common client and therapist misconceptions about exposure-based strategies
• Principles of effective versus ineffective exposure
• How to choose and plan the best exposure modality for socially anxious perfectionistic clients
  • In-vivo exposure
  • Simulated exposure and social skills training
  • Virtual reality
  • Imaginal exposure
  • Interoceptive exposure
• The latest inhibitory learning approaches to maximize exposure therapy
• Avoid common exposure therapy mistakes and troubleshooting for common issues
• Adaptations for working with children and adolescents

• Cultivate clients’ self-compassion and willingness to have internal experiences that are “negative”
• Strategies for facilitating clients’ mindfulness skills
• Facilitate behavioral change in line with clients’ core values

• How to monitor for and facilitate change talk in clients’ stories of social anxiety
• Effective rolling with the resistance of perfectionism
• Strategies for responding to discord in the therapy relationship
• Tips to improve out-of-session assignments

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Occupational Therapists
• Other mental health professionals