Evidence-Based Social Anxiety Group
Structured 13-Week Online Group Program for Adults 18+ in Texas
September 16 - December 16, 2026
Are you ready to feel more confident in social situations? This 13-week online group program is designed for adults experiencing anxiety in social situations. Do you:
Get nervous speaking with authority figures (e.g., professor, boss)?
Feel tense when you have to talk about yourself?
Feel uncomfortable mixing with colleagues?
Worry that you won’t have anything to say in social situations?
Have difficulty speaking up in small groups?
Feel awkward while meeting new people?
Generally find asserting yourself challenging?
Feel self-conscious entering a room where people are already seated?
Find yourself blushing, having sweaty hands and/or becoming tongue-tied in social situations?
The above is only a sampling of the types of experiences people living with social anxiety have. If any of the above resonate, this program is designed to help you learn a new way of being in these situations!
This program is available to clients anywhere in Texas via secure telehealth.
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash
What This Program Is
This program is a 13-week, evidence-based group experience to address and treat social anxiety through learning and practicing cognitive restructuring (a form of CBT) skills.
We will follow a structured curriculum using this workbook by Hope, Heimberg & Turk.
What This Program Is Not
This program is not:
A support group
A process group
Trauma-focused therapy
Open-ended, unstructured exploration
A deep dive into your life history
This program is highly structured and designed to provide measurable results within a 13-week period.
Who This Is For
People who find their social anxiety is holding them back in their career
People moving to a new place or starting college who find making friends challenging due to social anxiety
People trying to find a romantic partner(s) whose social anxiety is preventing them from putting their best foot forward
People who want to want to take a serious hobby (e.g., stand-up comedy or musical performance or acting) a step further, but find stage fright is getting in the way
Anyone ready to start living the rest of their life without feeling limited by their social anxiety
Anyone sick and tired of feeling awkward and uncomfortable in social situations and ready to do something about it!
The Structure
Phase 1: Psychoeducation and Rapport-Building (Weeks 1–3)
We define group norms and establish a solid foundation of knowledge about social anxiety, specifically as it relates to you and your experiences with it.
Phase 2: Treatment Planning and Cognitive Restructuring (Weeks 4–6)
We develop a personalized plan for tackling the areas where you’re most affected by social anxiety, and learn the nuts and bolts of cognitive restructuring.
Phase 3: Practice and Integration (Weeks 7–12)
We implement your personalized treatment plan through practice within the group as well as in real-world situations.
Phase 4: Conclusion and Intention Setting (Week 13)
We recognize the progress we’ve made together, make commitments to continue building on the skills we’ve learned and honor the relationships we’ve made within the group.
Date and Time Commitment
Core Program:
✅ A 1:1 ~20 minute consultation to determine appropriateness
✅ A 1:1 50-minute intake session
✅ 13 consecutive Wednesdays, September 16 - December 16, 2026, from 5:30 - 6:45 pm
Note: October 28 will be from 5:30 - 7:15 pm
Optional:
Two opportunities for additional support are baked into the program at key moments in the curriculum:
✅ Friday, October 9, 12 noon - 1 pm
✅ Friday, October 23,12 noon - 1 pm
*If we need a make-up session, we’ll decide as a group on a make-up date.
Not ready or able to join this group? No worries at all! Complete the contact form and I’ll reach out when I have dates for a future group.
What People Report After Completing this Program
This program emphasizes skills practice in a graduated manner, meaning we slowly build from the least anxiety-provoking to the most anxiety-producing scenarios. This is to help your nervous system learn at a manageable pace to respond differently in social interactions.
At the end of the program, people report having made new friends, finding a romantic partner or partners, and feeling more comfort and ease in all social situations. In other words, people report feeling like they can truly be themselves and be more present in their lives.
It’s worth noting that even if you focus on one area, such as giving presentations, the skills you learn often transfer to other areas of your life.
Note: Until now I have only offered this program to individuals, so these results are based on treatment in an individual therapeutic setting.
Frequently Asked Questions
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That’s 100% okay, and I anticipate you won’t be the only person who hasn’t been in therapy before in the group.
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The group will be capped at 6 people.
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Absolutely. We will make adaptations to the program to support telehealth, and I will walk you through the adaptations every step of the way.
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Even though this is a group, part of the program involves developing a personalized blueprint for addressing your unique challenges in social settings. While one person in the group may struggle the most with giving presentations, another may struggle more with making small talk, and that’s okay! The practice portion of the sessions will be specific to each individual’s goals.
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You are unlikely to be the only one in the group who feels this way. This program is not about jumping into the deep end. In the beginning, I will invite active participation, but your biggest responsibility will be to learn about social anxiety and the tools to address it. It isn’t until the seventh meeting that you will be asked to practice that skill with another group member or with me, in a dyad. And if speaking in small groups is one of your goals, then we will work our way up to that, and the group is a great place to practice!
If you’re still not convinced, I offer this program via individual therapy as well, and I encourage you to ask me about that option.
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This certainly can be the case, particularly with folx belonging to historically marginalized communities. The program does not require anyone to deny their truth in any way. It is designed to help you identify and adapt unhelpful beliefs. For example, if you have experienced a microaggression or worse, the program will not ask you to dispute that it happened, but will help you reshape beliefs related to it, including encouraging you to not internalize negative thoughts or beliefs about yourself as a result. In fact, there is a cognitive restructuring technique that relates directly to microaggressions.
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To get the most out of this program, it is critical to practice the skills you’re learning, so as long as you are following the program, you will experience anxiety. However, you will learn over time that the anxiety will lessen as you become more proficient at regulating your anxiety through the tools you learn.
If at any point something feels like too much, let me know and we can figure it out together.
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Sometimes - but not always - social anxiety is tied to deeper trauma. If something deeper emerges we will consider the options together. Trauma is another specialization of mine, so I am well positioned to help you navigate it if it does come up. My priority will always be to ensure safety above all.
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Yes. This is psychotherapy, and it follows the same confidentiality standards as all therapy services. Your privacy and that of all group members is a priority of mine, and we’ll discuss this together in our first meeting to make sure we’re all clear and aligned on confidentiality.
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I’m excited you’re taking time for rest and renewal! If your time away coincides with one of our regular meetings, let me know in the contact form or during the consultation. It’s possible we will need to schedule a 1:1 make-up session for that week. If others will also be absent for that session, we can coordinate schedules so you can split the cost with them.
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Meet Your Therapist and Guide
I’m a licensed clinical social work supervisor and psychotherapist specializing in social anxiety and trauma, based in Austin, Texas. In addition to what many describe as my calming presence, I bring a depth of experience helping adults navigate anxiety, performance stress, self-doubt, and life transitions through evidence-based approaches tailored to each person’s unique strengths.
Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than a decade in the corporate world as a communications consultant and leader. My firsthand experience in professional settings lends a deep understanding of many of the challenges my clients face, both in the workplace and in more personal settings.
I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in New York. I’ve lived and worked internationally multiple times, and offer a worldly perspective combined with grounded clinical training.
In my broader practice, I draw from multiple modalities — including EMDR, parts work, CBT, DBT, hypnosis, mindfulness, and neurobiology — in ways that are both evidence-based and deeply relational.
Why Do This Program With Melissa?
Working with me means you’re not just getting a practitioner with clinical expertise — you’re partnering with someone with a breadth of life experiences who truly gets both the personal and professional sides of your experience.
I’ve used this curriculum with many individuals already, and the results have been so compelling, I’m excited to offer it in a group format! I can say with confidence that this curriculum has the potential to transform lives because I’ve seen it happen in the chair across from me many times.
Whether you’re navigating a new city and wanting to build a social network, preparing for a big presentation or simply wish to live a life with less anxiety and more “yeses”, my aim is to join with you to help you learn the skills and build the confidence to do it.
And even though this is a structured program, it’s important to me to blend my clinical training with an authentic presence - curiosity, warmth and collaboration - to create as much safety as possible toward helping you meet your goals.
Investment
Total investment: $1,200 + the cost of this workbook
The $1,200 total includes:
✅ A 1:1 50-minute intake session
✅ 13 weekly group meetings
✅ 2 bonus “extra support” sessions
Note: You will be responsible for purchasing the workbook prior to the start of the program.
Payment Options
Pay in full: $1,200
Three monthly payments: $400
A Note on Access
I’m committed to offering this work in a way that acknowledges inequities in access to private-pay mental health care.
For each cohort, I reserve a limited number of reduced-fee spaces for individuals from historically marginalized communities. These spaces are offered at a rate of $900 for the full 13-week program, while maintaining the same structure, care, and intention as the standard offering.
If this feels relevant to you, you’re welcome to share that during your consultation. No additional documentation is required.
Payment arrangements can be discussed during your consultation.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you’re curious whether this evidence-based social anxiety group program could support your goals, the first step is a free 20-minute consultation.
During this conversation, we’ll talk about:
the specific ways social anxiety is showing up for you
the goals you’d like to achieve
whether this structured program feels like the right fit
There’s no pressure to commit — just an opportunity to explore whether this program aligns with what you’re looking for.
What Happens Next
I’m so glad you’ve come this far! Below I’ve outlined next steps so you know exactly what to expect once you reach out to schedule a consultation.
1️⃣ Request a consultation. Complete this form to request an initial consultation or schedule directly here.
2️⃣ Chat on the phone. The initial consultation helps us both assess goodness-of-fit. It is at least as important that you feel comfortable with me as your group therapist as it is for me to assess whether or not the group is a good fit for you.
3️⃣ Complete intake paperwork. If I don’t have any further questions based on your assessments, I’ll send you intake paperwork.
4️⃣ Have the intake session. In this 50-minute, 1:1 session with me, I’ll gather more information about your personal goals for the program, and also gather some of your personal history toward giving you the best possible experience with the program.
5️⃣ Take assessments.I will share assessment tools to establish a baseline before starting the group. At the end of the group, I will ask you to take the assessments again to provide a standard measure of your progress.
6️⃣ Begin the group. The first group meeting is September 16, 2026. Welcome to Say Anything Psychotherapy!