Public Speaking Anxiety, Social Anxiety
Paul, a successful businessman, experiences debilitating public speaking anxiety when he prepares for a public presentation.
“I’ve always had anxiety about presenting to a group of people. I sweat, I stutter, my heart races and I think, ‘I’m going to mess it up again. I’m useless. I’m gonna die.’ Same thing happened at school. I’ve always made it through, but it’s always painful for me and anyone who tries to help. I’ve tried every therapy, I can’t fix it.”
Starting EMDR therapy
Paul started EMDR therapy to address his problem. Here’s what he uncovered:
“I was 3½ years old. I was walking chatting away with Grandpa on his farm. I was a very small child. We crossed paths with a strange old man. He said to Grandpa, ‘If I had a young one talked as much as yours, I’d drown him in the river.’ I slipped behind Grandpa, looked up at the angry man’s nostrils, and kept quiet. It was not safe to talk in front of strangers.”
This traumatic fearful encounter became the touchstone event that set Paul up for later failure:
“I presented my first book report in 3rd grade. I had worked very hard on it and I was very proud of it. I had a slight stutter at the time. I was not self-conscious about it. I had dreams of the teacher praising me and telling everyone the great work I had done. As I was progressing through the presentation, the stutter was worsening. I thought, ‘I’m an idiot.’ The teacher laughed during the whole presentation.”
Forty years later, when making work presentations, Paul was still affected by the same thoughts linked to the original traumatic encounter: “I’m an idiot. Everyone will hate me.” Before EMDR therapy, he had no idea why he was feeling and thinking that way. It was an automatic response to an external ‘trigger’ which was resolved once memories of the challenging events were properly processed.
Research and other content
DSM-IV and DSM-V social anxiety disorder in the Australian community
Public Speaking and Social Anxiety
Social Phobia
Beyond Blue Social Phobia
Other EMDR client cases
Social Anxiety, Extreme Shyness, Lack of Self-confidence
