Abstract:
By 2013, approximately 96 students within a large tertiary institution in Aotearoa New Zealand had participated in 12 Social Confidence groups to overcome difficulties with social anxiety. This article reports the results of a small-scale study undertaken to investigate students’ experiences of the groups to find out what they valued in the programme and what they did afterwards that was helpful, and to understand how they made meaning of social anxiety in their lives. Qualitative research methods including individual interviews and a focus group with five participants were utilised in this study, which was informed by narrative inquiry as it allowed for rich responses that could not have been captured within methods that give participants a “smaller voice.” Through their experience of taking part in a Social Confidence Group and their own efforts, the participants in this study reported shifting from positions of “shame and hiding” to “whole-hearted” living.
