Psychotherapeutic Session Plan for a Patient with Social Anxiety Disorder
Session Length: 60 Minutes
Objective
To engage the patient positively in managing social anxiety while leveraging their current happy mood to address issues related to social anxiety, focusing on improving time management and cognitive restructuring techniques.
Session Outline
1. Welcome and Check-In (10 minutes)
- Greetings: Begin with a warm welcome. Acknowledge the patient’s happy mood to build rapport.
- Check-In Question: "What’s something that made you feel happy recently?”
- Mood Overview: Discuss any recent changes in the patient’s life that may have contributed to their current mood.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Introduction (10 minutes)
- Education: Briefly explain how CBT works, emphasizing the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- Relevance: Discuss how understanding their current thought patterns can help in managing and challenging social anxiety.
3. Identifying Negative Thought Patterns (15 minutes)
- Activity: Use a tailored worksheet to help the patient identify specific situations where they experience social anxiety.
- Discussion:
- Encourage the patient to share their thoughts about these situations.
- Highlight any cognitive distortions they may be using (e.g., catastrophizing, black-and-white thinking).
4. Cognitive Restructuring Activity (15 minutes)
- Challenge Negative Thoughts: Guide the patient to challenge irrational thoughts by using the “ABCDE” model:
- A (Adversity): What is the situation that triggers your anxiety?
- B (Beliefs): What beliefs do you have about this situation?
- C (Consequences): What are the emotional and behavioral consequences of those beliefs?
- D (Disputation): Is there evidence to support or refute these beliefs?
- E (Effective new belief): How can we reframe these beliefs into more positive and realistic thoughts?
- Practical Example: Walk them through an example using one of their identified situations from earlier.
5. Time Management Discussion (10 minutes)
- Importance: Talk about how improving time management can reduce feelings of overwhelm and enhance their ability to engage in social situations.
- Strategies:
- Discuss creating a daily or weekly schedule with goal-setting techniques.
- Introduce the Pomodoro Technique as a method to balance work and relaxation time effectively.
6. Assigning Homework (5 minutes)
- Practical Task: Ask the patient to set one social goal for the week, related to managing social anxiety (e.g., initiating a conversation with a colleague).
- Reflective Journal: Encourage them to keep a journal about their feelings and thoughts during social interactions, focusing on identifying anxiety triggers and positive experiences.
7. Session Wrap-Up and Feedback (5 minutes)
- Review Key Points: Summarize the major takeaways from the session and how these strategies can help manage social anxiety.
- Feedback: Invite the patient to share their thoughts on the activities performed today and any feelings or ideas that arose.
- Next Steps: Confirm the date and time for the next session, setting a positive tone for future discussions.
Conclusion
This session plan aims to leverage the patient’s current happiness to engage them actively in addressing social anxiety through CBT techniques. By incorporating cognitive restructuring and time management skills, the patient can develop healthier thought patterns and improve their social interactions.