CHAPTER 3
Getting to Know Your  
Social Anxiety
WHY CONDUCT A SELF-ASSESSMENT?
The initial step that a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health professional 
takes in beginning to help an individual with a particular problem is a period of evalua -
tion and assessment. This evaluation process involves collecting information needed to 
better understand the nature and extent of the problem so that the best possible treat -
ment plan can be formulated. This initial assessment almost always involves an interview 
and may also include various questionnaires and standard tests. Sometimes, the therapist 
may ask the person to start keeping a diary to monitor speciﬁc thoughts or behaviors.
In the case of social anxiety, a clinician might spend the ﬁrst session (or even the 
ﬁrst few sessions) asking questions about the client’s social anxiety, about other difﬁcul -
ties he or she might be experiencing, and about the person’s general background and 
life experiences. The individual also may be asked to answer a series of questionnaires 
that measure social anxiety and related problems. In addition, the client is often asked 
to complete diary entries between sessions to measure the person’s anxiety in social 
situations, his or her feelings of depression, and any other aspects of the problem. The 
assessment process helps the clinician to understand the person’s problems and is useful 
for choosing an appropriate course of treatment. In addition, repeating certain assess -
ments from time to time allows the clinician to measure whether treatment is working 
(Antony and Rowa 2005).