Social Anxiety and Related Conditions.
A Common Sense, Tough Love Approach to Recovery
For each new subscriber, ReChanneling donates $25 for workshop scholarships.
Seminars • Workshops • Groups • Individuals
“Dr. Mullen is doing impressive work helping the world. He is the pioneer of proactive neuroplasticity utilizing DRNI – deliberate, repetitive, neural information.” – WeVoice (Madrid, Málaga)
A Common Sense, Hard Love Approach to Social Anxiety
Tough love and common sense are the two pivotal standards of recovery from social anxiety. Tough love is compassionate concern expressed rigorously and precisely to promote healthy and responsible behavior.
Tough love compels a sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Tough love sets boundaries, identifying for us what thoughts and behaviors are acceptable and what are not. Boundaries establish our identity and give us the power to shape our lives.
Tough love imposes consequences. We will not achieve our objectives if we fail to execute the work. The consequences manifest themselves in the perpetuation of our anxiety and depression.
Common sense is the evident solution for the irrational thoughts and behaviors that maintain social anxiety. It is the ability to use sound judgment in making decisions. The characteristics and traits of social anxiety supersede common sense.
The overarching goal of recovery is the remission of our social anxiety. The three objectives that support this goal are to replace our negative thoughts and behaviors with healthy, productive ones, produce positive stimulation to offset the abundance of negative information in our brain’s metabolism, and regenerate our self-esteem to reintegrate into society. Their strength is in their complementarity, meaning they combine to enhance or support each other.
Habits are difficult to break but not impossible. We are hardwired to resist anything that disrupts our thought patterns. Our brain’s inertia senses and combats change, and our basal ganglia repel modification. Our resistance to change must be shattered so that we can open ourselves to ideas and concepts, many of which are unfamiliar.
To consolidate and accelerate recovery, we must eliminate our tendencies to self-sabotage and view ourselves as victims. We must end self-prophesying disaster and failure and our symptomatic self-centeredness. We must recognize the absurdity of shame for the onset of our condition. These common-sense behavioral modifications are challenging due to decades of negative self-appraisal and require a tough love, uncompromising approach.
We must cultivate an awareness of the symptoms and traits of our condition. We must know when, where, why, and how the condition affects us because we are not impacted equally. We are unique individuals with diverse experiences, environments, beliefs, needs, and aspirations, and our symptoms are highly subjective. Social anxiety is unlike any other emotional malfunction. Our recovery efforts are counterproductive until we understand and resolve the counterintuitive nature of social anxiety.
Neuroplasticity, the brain’s incredible ability to adapt and reorganize itself, is a scientific certainty that must be accepted to compel a proactive regimen of deliberate and repetitive neural input.
The benefits of neuroplasticity are vast and inspiring. It enhances cognitive functioning, mental health, and memory. It accelerates the transmission of chemical hormones for relaxation, concentration, pleasure, and motivation while alleviating the fear and anxiety-provoking hormones. Neuroplasticity strengthens neuron connections, generating more energy and producing higher levels of proteins crucial for improved cognitive functioning. It aids in learning and emotional regulation.
Notwithstanding, the repetitive nature of proactive neuroplasticity can be tedious and does not yield immediate, tangible results. The endurance and self-reliance produced by tough love overcome our penchant for instant gratification.
Our SAD-induced adverse thoughts and behaviors are emotionally challenging for our minds to manage. We resort to defense mechanisms―unconscious and automatic psychological responses designed to protect us from our fears and apprehensions. We deny, avoid, and compensate rather than confront our problems. We rationalize our behaviors, project them onto others, or displace them by kicking the dog.
These defense mechanisms include cognitive distortions – exaggerated or irrational thought patterns that distort reality to reinforce or justify our toxic thoughts and behaviors. Most are resolved by a common sense understanding of their irrationality, but the more unmanageable ones, such as shame, guilt, and resentment, require a touch love approach to break the cycle.
Social anxiety is a component of a negative trajectory that starts with childhood disturbance, is fostered by our core and intermediate beliefs, and produces negative self-appraisal that manifests in automatic and intrusive negative thoughts and behaviors. We learn to identify and invalidate these destructive elements through a coalescence of cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, Socratic questioning (who, what, when, where, how, and why), and individualized approaches. We devise calculated and automatic rational reactions and responses to offset their adversity. Destructive behaviors are examined, analyzed, and replaced.
Individuals experiencing social anxiety ostensibly have a low EQ – the ability to manage and regulate emotions. Rational thinking is a faculty anathema to our condition. We compensate for this lacuna by emphasizing our left brain’s reasoning attributes to balance our right brain’s creative pursuits. Hemispheric synchronization is the collaboration of our brain’s left and right hemispheres to achieve optimal coherence, i.e., an analytical-emotional brain.
Cognitive reframing is a powerful tool that helps us identify, challenge, and replace distorted thought patterns with healthier, realistic perspectives. By reframing our fears and apprehensions, we foster a more optimistic outlook. Every situation has multiple perspectives, and by choosing to see the positive side, we can seize the opportunity for happiness and growth.
Coping mechanisms are conventional psychological approaches that reduce the disquiet of intrusive and automatic negative thoughts, mitigate anxiety and fear-provoking hormones, and calm us in distressful situations. These mechanisms allow us to analyze our fears objectively and regulate our emotional responses.
These are all common-sense solutions.
In unambiguous terms, the desire for love and acceptance is at the heart of social anxiety. Our innate need for intimacy is no less dynamic than anyone’s; however, our impairment disrupts the ability to establish affectional bonds in almost any capacity, including platonic, intimate, familial, practical, and social.
Due to the disruption our condition causes to our optimal development, the qualities that construct our self-esteem are underdeveloped or suspended. This disruption may interrupt productivity, but it does not destroy it. Like stimulating the unexercised muscle in our arm or leg, our self-esteem can be regenerated, showcasing its remarkable resilience.
Human connection is a vital element of emotional health. Extensive research shows that healthy social interaction bolsters our immune system, shields our brains from neurodegenerative diseases, and enhances our cognitive functions. Social activity triggers the release of chemical hormones that significantly boost our learning, concentration, pleasure, and motivation.
Reclaiming our inherent positive qualities mitigates our unpleasant, aversive, and undesirable emotions, such as disappointment when we don’t meet our expectations, sadness when we experience loss, fear when we face uncertainty, and anger when we feel wronged or threatened. By nurturing our self-esteem, we can better manage these emotions and maintain a healthier emotional balance.
Recovery requires letting go of our negative self-perspectives, expectations, and beliefs. It’s about freeing ourselves from the shackles of shame, guilt, and other hostile self-indulgences that keep us imprisoned in the past. This liberation opens our minds to new ideas and concepts.
We deserve to be happy. This means taking time for self-care, engaging in activities that bring us joy, and surrounding ourselves with supportive people who recognize our value and uplift us.
“ReChanneling’s Social Anxiety Workshop produced results within a few sessions, with continuing improvement throughout the workshop and beyond.” – Liz D.
A Paradigmatic Approach To Recovery From Social Anxiety
Addressing the complexity of the individual personality calls for multiple traditional and non-traditional approaches developed through client trust, cultural assimilation, and therapeutic innovation. Any recovery program must consider our environment, hermeneutics, history, and autobiography in conjunction with our wants, needs, and aspirations. Absent that, our complexity is not valued, and the treatment is inadequate.
A coalescence of neuroscience and east-west psychologies captures the diversity of human thought and experience. Science gives us proactive neuroplasticity; cognitive-behavioral self-modification and positive psychology’s optimal functioning are Western-oriented; Eastern practices provide the therapeutic benefits of Abhidharma psychology and the overarching truths of ethical behavior.
Neuroplasticity
Plasticity is the quality of being easily shaped or molded. Neuroplasticity is our brain’s continuous adaptation and restructuring to experience and information. Scientists refer to the process as structural remodeling of the brain. It is what makes learning and registering new experiences possible. Our neural network is dynamic and malleable – realigning its pathways and rebuilding its circuits in response to stimuli. Information notifies our neural network to realign, generating a correlated change in behavior and perspective.
“I joined Robert’s SAD workshop at a time when I felt lost, alone, and unconfident. After a handful of weeks and exercises, Robert’s program provided me with the tools to start seeking and navigating relationships.”– Bryce S.
Human Neuroplasticity
Human neuroplasticity happens in three forms. Reactive neuroplasticity is our brain’s natural response to things over which we have limited to no control – stimuli we absorb but do not focus on or initiate: a car alarm, lightning, or the smell of baked goods. Our neural network automatically restructures itself to what happens around us.
Active neuroplasticity happens through intentional pursuits like creating, yoga, and journaling. We control active neuroplasticity because we consciously choose the activity. A significant component of active neuroplasticity is our altruistic and compassionate social behavior, e.g., teaching, compassion, and random acts of kindness.
Proactive neuroplasticity is rapid, concentrated neurological stimulation to change the polarity of our neural network from toxic to positive. We execute this through the deliberate, repetitive neural input of information.
“With Dr. Mullen’s positivity, compassion, and encouragement, I can say it is one of the best investments I have made in myself, and I will continue to improve and benefit from it for the rest of my life.” – Nick P.
What is significant is our ability to deliberately accelerate and consolidate learning by compelling our brain to repattern its neural circuitry. Over the years, our brain structures itself around negative neural input forming in childhood and increasing exponentially due to our inherent negative bias and the vicissitudes of life.
We consciously and deliberately transform our thoughts and behaviors, creating healthy new mindsets, skills, and abilities. Our informed and deliberate engagement compels change rather than reacting and responding to it.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
CBT supports our efforts to recognize and replace our automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) with healthy, rational ones (ARTs). It is most effective when used in concert with other approaches. CBT is structured, goal-oriented, and focused on the present solution. The ‘self-modification’ module emphasizes the self-reliance and personal accountability demanded by proactive neuroplasticity.
Positive psychology
We are not defined by our defects and shortfalls but by our character strengths, virtues, and attributes. The objective of positive psychology is to mitigate the symptoms of anxiety and other self-destructive patterns by reframing our negative outlook to a more optimistic perspective.
Self-Esteem
Regenerating our self-esteem is an essential part of recovery and transformation. A fusion of clinically proven exercises helps us regain what has been underdeveloped, misplaced, or lost.
Self-esteem is mindfulness of our character assets as well as our shortcomings. It is how we think about ourselves, how we think others think about us, and how we process that information. The obstructed and repressed properties of our self-esteem are retrievable.
“I like Robert’s SAD recovery program, especially how it’s taking many of my negative thoughts away and replacing them with positive ones. I also appreciate the others that are in our recovery group, as we all mingle quite well. And, of course, Robert is always there as nurturing and positive friend.” – Michael Z.
Targeted Solutions
Individually targeted solutions address the complexity of the personality. Training in prosocial behavior and emotional literacy are valuable supplements to typical approaches. Behavioral exercises and exposure consolidate our social skills. Positive affirmations have enormous subjective value. Data provide evidence for mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions. Motivational enhancement strategies help overcome our resistance to new ideas and concepts.
Our Online Recovery Workshop
10 Weekly Sessions / Maximum 8 Students
The ultimate objectives of our Recovery Workshop are to:
- Provide the tools and techniques to replace years of toxic thoughts and behaviors with rational, healthy ones, dramatically alleviating the self-destructive symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other malfunctions.
- Compel the rediscovery and reinvigoration of our character strengths, virtues, and attributes.
- Design a targeted behavioral self-modification process to help the individual re-engage their social comfort and status.
- Provide the means to control our symptoms rather than allowing them to control us.
“I would like to say thank you for a well-organized learning experience. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate this program. I’m feeling so confident and ready to utilize these resources/tools you’ve provided.” – Trish D.
Workshop Components
Components utilized in our Workshops include psychoeducation, introspective self-awareness, roleplay, exposure, and homework.
Psychoeducation teaches us the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and physiological reactions.
Introspective self-awareness: Social anxiety sustains itself through our negative self-appraisal, which causes maladaptive and distorted thoughts and behaviors in social situations. Introspective self-awareness helps us identify and reframe our negative self-appraisal.
Roleplay helps modify our behaviors by visualizing and practicing different ways of managing feared situations. Attendees assume a role or persona and act and respond to hypothetical feared situations. Roleplay helps us recognize and analyze our toxic behaviors and replace them with healthy ones to mitigate our stress and anxiety.
Exposure. By utilizing graded exposure, we start with situations that are easier to manage and then work our way up to more challenging tasks. We build confidence slowly through practice and learned skills. Executing this in a structured and repeated way reduces our fears and apprehensions. In vivo exposure allows us to confront feared stimuli in real-world conditions.
Homework consists of self-evaluating exercises that help us identify and address our distorted thoughts and irrational behaviors.
“I am simply in awe at the writing, your insights, your deep knowing of transcendence, your intuitive understanding of psychic-physical pain, your connection of the pain to healing … and above all, your innate compassion.” – Jan Parker, PhD
Your Role in Recovery
These are active, structured Recovery Workshops for people who are prepared and willing to address the symptoms of their malfunction. We can only succeed with self-motivated and committed individuals. Attendees are expected to participate in the discussions and exercises.
Logistics
The online workshops consist of ten weekly sessions lasting roughly 60-90 minutes. We limit workshop capacity to eight students. Establishing a secure bond and a close, supportive alliance between the facilitator and students is central to an effective recovery program.
An action plan to support treatment includes minimal homework (approximately 1 hour weekly) consisting of planning and introspection. After the ten weeks, we conference monthly, at no cost, to support the recovery process.
Contact us for sliding scale tuition costs
and scholarship availability.
For low-income students, weekly tuition
is less than the cost of a movie and popcorn.
Individual support for recovery from
social anxiety is available to a select few.
“I have never encountered such an efficient professional … His work transpires dedication, care, and love for what he does.” – Jose Garcia Silva, PhD (Composer Cosmos)
For information, to register for a workshop, or request an interview, please complete the following form.
Workshop applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview.
WHY IS YOUR SUPPORT SO NECESSARY AND ESSENTIAL? ReChanneling develops and implements programs to (1) mitigate symptoms of social anxiety and related conditions and (2) pursue personal goals and objectives – harnessing our intrinsic aptitude for extraordinary living. Our paradigmatic approach targets the personality through empathy, collaboration, and program integration utilizing neuroscience and psychology including proactive neuroplasticity, cognitive-behavioral modification, positive psychology, and techniques designed to regenerate self-esteem. All donations support scholarships for groups and workshops.
Committing to recovery is one of the hardest things you will ever do.
It takes enormous courage and the realization that you are of value,
consequential, and deserving of happiness.