Social confidence groups 1: A counsellor's response to helping tertiary students overcome social anxiety-related difficulties

Abstract

As a counsellor in a busy university health centre, I noticed many students presenting with social anxiety-related difficulties. I wondered how best to help people feeling socially anxious, different, shy, or alone, so I decided to be innovative and to trial a group programme. Though initially entitled “The Social Anxiety Group,” it was later renamed “The Social Confidence Group” as a more positive title. Counselling can help clients with healing and developing their self-worth, but groups have the power to create a greater sense of belonging. This article describes how the group programme evolved and explains how it works, in the hope that other educational institutions might consider running similar groups.