Adults and older teenagers working through social anxiety, as well as CBT therapists, counsellors and mental health practitioners supporting them, may find this module useful for understanding how attention can keep anxiety going. It focuses on self-focused attention, scanning for social threat, and practising task-focused attention during conversations and everyday routines.
This social anxiety attention training CBT PDF module is designed to help adults and older teenagers explore how attention can shift during social situations. It can be used by individuals working through guided self-help, or by CBT therapists, counsellors and mental health practitioners as a structured handout within sessions or as home practice.
The resource explains how people may become caught up in monitoring their own thoughts, body sensations, facial expressions or performance, while also checking the environment for possible signs of criticism or rejection. It introduces task-focused attention as a practical alternative, with examples linked to conversations, everyday interactions and routine activities.
Use the module to support:
- CBT sessions on social anxiety and social phobia
- Between-session worksheets and reflection tasks
- Attention training practice during daily routines
- Discussion of safety behaviours, self-monitoring and threat checking
- Home learning for older teens or adults building confidence in social situations
The exercises encourage practice using sight, sound, touch, smell and taste as anchors, helping the person notice what is happening around them rather than becoming absorbed in anxious self-evaluation. It may be useful for planning therapy work, setting homework tasks, preparing psychoeducation materials, or offering a printable guide that clients can revisit between appointments. View, download or print the PDF to support structured attention training in a clear and accessible format.
