Rising Above Social Anxiety - by Ellen Hendriksen, PhD

COURSE

Rising Above Social Anxiety

With Ellen Hendriksen, PhD

Are you one of the 40% of people who consider themselves shy? If you get nervous in social situations, this course will help you overcome social anxiety and finally be your true self. Weaving together cutting-edge science, concrete exercises, and compassionate encouragement from a teacher who has walked in your shoes, this course will help you develop confidence, feel comfortable in any situation, and finally come home to your true, courageous, and authentic self.


Meet your Teacher

Ellen Hendriksen a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) who helps millions calm their anxiety and be their authentic selves. Ellen earned her Ph.D. at UCLA and completed her training at Harvard Medical School and has published a book, How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. Ellen also runs an award-winning podcast 'Savvy Psychologist,' which has been downloaded over 14 million times and was picked as a Best New Podcast of 2014 on iTunes. Ellen's scientifically-based, zero-judgment approach has been featured in New York Magazine, Tonic, The Observer, Scientific American, Vox, Psychology Today, Medium, O the Oprah Magazine, Bustle, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Quiet Revolution, and many other media outlets.

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10 Days

38.0k students

4.9 stars

14 min / day

Anxiety

English


Lesson 1

The Truth About Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is seeing ourselves in a distorted way and believing that distortion to be the truth. But the real truth is that you are already enough as you are. You are all you need to be. In Day 1, we'll explore the concept of The Reveal and remind ourselves that social anxiety is a package deal that comes bundled with strengths that won't fade even as social anxiety lessens.

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Lesson 2

The Two Lies Of Social Anxiety

Today we'll talk about why social anxiety sticks around over years (and even decades), the two lies of social anxiety, the myths and truths of confidence, and we'll create your Challenge List, a concrete list of things you’d be doing if you were living the life you want.

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Lesson 3

How To Aim Your Attention Spotlight

Your attention is a spotlight, and you decide where to aim it. When we feel anxious, we unconsciously turn the spotlight inward, highlighting our worried thoughts, our anxious bodies, and how we think the situation is going (where the Inner Critic is guaranteed to tell you you're bombing). In Day 3, we'll learn how and why to focus outward.

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Lesson 4

How To Challenge Your Inner Critic

Ever see the bumper sticker: "Don't believe everything you think"? In Day 4, we'll learn how to catch a thought, plus four ways to challenge your Inner Critic's shouts and murmurs.

Lesson 5

Give Yourself A Mission

In Day 5, we'll tackle two topics. First, we'll touch on self-compassion and how to talk more kindly to ourselves. We can't grow in a punitive environment, so we'll learn to support ourselves as we stretch and change. Next, anxiety is driven by uncertainty, so we'll learn to increase certainty by giving ourselves some structure - a fulfilling mission, should we choose to accept it.

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Lesson 6

How To Roll Back Our Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a bit of a misnomer, because it isn’t necessarily about being perfect; instead, it’s about never being good enough. In Day 6, we'll roll back our expectations of social perfection and discover that when we loosen our grip on our rules, we're safer and happier than we ever expected.

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Lesson 7

Letting Go Of Our Safety Behaviors

Safety behaviors are actions we take to conceal our perceived inadequacies, like wearing sunglasses indoors, talking to the floor, or scrolling through Twitter so we look busy. We use them to hide, to try to blend in, and to feel safer, but they actually send an unintended message. Furthermore, dropping our safety behaviors allows us to look and feel more comfortable and more connected. In Day 7, we'll practice letting go of our safety behavior habits.

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Lesson 8

Why How You Feel Isn't How You Look

Today, in Day 8, we'll investigate three different cognitive biases that perpetuate the myth that we broadcast our anxiety for all to see. Plus, we'll use the phone in our pocket to gather some helpful evidence that how we feel isn't how we look.

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Lesson 9

All You Have To Be Is Kind

In today's lesson, we'll talk about connection and three things that bring us together: repetition, disclosure, and initiative. Plus, why friends are made, not found, and why that's good news.

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Lesson 10

Putting It All Together

On this final day of our course, we'll wrap up all our tools with a nice big bow and answer some FAQs about how to tell the difference between avoidance and simply not wanting to do something, how to support a friend with social anxiety, and more! Prepare to welcome your new life.

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Ask your teacher

This course includes 296 community questions and 106 audio replies from Ellen Hendriksen, PhD. The community classroom and teacher audio replies are only available via the app.

296

4.9 (1714)

Recent Reviews

Heidi

Heidi

January 21, 2026

Not exactly the right fit for my situation but there were still some good insights and tips.

Rachel

Rachel

January 4, 2026

🙏❤️

mp

October 27, 2025

Outstanding!!!

Penny

May 29, 2025

I picked up quite a few nuggets of human traits and behaviours that I wasn’t aware of before. I loved the short sharp witty delivery and would not hesitate to listen to this same presenter again. In fact I may just go and buy her book!!

Deval

February 22, 2025

Amazing , eye opening , life changing.

Fraser

January 23, 2025

Like a combo of comfort food and high end dining . The delivery , pace and information given are like being fed comfort food, easy to digest , relatable and over too soon , and the quality , relevance and high standard of the content are Michelin Star . Hugely helpful in my ongoing struggles to be consciously mindful of who I am and showing me tools I can easily use and understand to help me feel better about myself and easier in my own skin. Owning things but not everything . Highly recommended

Julien

Julien

January 22, 2025

I love a good structured course and this one didn’t disappoint! Lots of information, easy to understand and high production quality. Thank you :)

Tara

Tara

January 7, 2025

I really appreciate the bite sized ideas and challenges presented in this course and I got a lot out of it.

Shannon

November 10, 2024

Eye opening and useful. I thoroughly enjoyed every lesson.

Iris

November 1, 2024

I can't thank this course enough. I've spent a year finishing this 10 day course. Step by step, little by little, but with amazing impact. It has been helping me to improve my social anxiety in a kind and effective way. Looking back over the last year, I've initiate a new friendship, connected with old friends, and not feeling anxious any more when ordering coffee in person lol. I can be more confident and enjoy the social interactions while respecting my introvert personality. Thank you so much for making this course. I truly enjoyed the journey and am so grateful for the knowledge and kindness received. Good luck to all of uu. May we embrace our true self and be brave enough to achieve thing we trully want.

Alec

Alec

October 2, 2024

Fantastic! Transformative. Insightful. I highly recommend for anyone who deals with social anxiety

Audrey

Audrey

September 26, 2024

Thank you Ellen for this course. I listened to all 10 lessons and I learnt a great deal.

Antonia

Antonia

September 24, 2024

Thankyou. Great course with many actionable ideas. Perfectly balanced in the sense that it feels challenging in a gentle, small steps way, with fantastic explanations as to how the science and research backs it up.

Michelle

Michelle

September 21, 2024

Amazing course! It has truly change my life and given me tools to finally be myself ♥️

Tolu

September 19, 2024

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Missy

September 10, 2024

So good! Love the practical steps and recipes for success. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

Megan

August 23, 2024

This was all things I already knew, and her voice was annoying.

Akshay

Akshay

August 13, 2024

Amazing course.

Katherine

July 27, 2024

Thank you for this exceptional bite size course on Social Anxiety. I am no stranger to the challenges involved with the condition. I really appreciate hearing a new perspective.

Anya

Anya

July 21, 2024

What a great course! Lots of scientific ways to alleviate social anxiety presented in a simple and understandable manner. Loved it!

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