Overcoming Social Anxiety with Deborah Dobson, PhD

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Psychotherapist and host Jessica Fowler interviews CBT specialist Deborah Dobson, PhD about her book, Living Well with Social Anxiety: Practical Strategies for Improving Your Daily Life (affiliate link). Dobson shares her definition of social anxiety, which includes avoidance and reassurance seeking from partners, friends, and therapists. Dobson shares psychoeducation, values-based goal setting, coping and grounding skills, as we discuss social anxiety.

Show Highlights

Why Social Anxiety

Defining Social Anxiety

Avoidance and Safety Behaviors

Rumination After Events

Psychoeducation And Early Roots

Parenting Shy Kids

Exposure Based Treatment

Practice Examples and Games

Coping And Grounding Tools

Maintaining Skills Long Term

Real World Scenarios

About the author:

Deborah Dobson, PhD has specialized in cognitive behavior therapy throughout her career, particularly in the understanding and treatment of social anxiety disorder. She began the first Certificate program in CBT in Western Canada through the University of Calgary.  She has provided supervision and training in cognitive behavior therapy in Canada and internationally. Her textbooks (along with co-author Keith Dobson) Evidence-Based Practice of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (2009, 2017) have been adopted by many clinical training programs. Her new book Living Well with Social Anxiety: Practical Strategies for Improving Your Daily Life (2026) is intended for anyone affected by social anxiety.