We suggest (below) some example questions that you can ask your potential therapist. Whilst they don’t necessarily guarantee you will find a specialist or the perfect therapist, they can filter out those that may not be the best fit for you.

The therapeutic relationship between you and your therapist is very important. You need to be able to work together to address the various thoughts, emotions and behaviours they keep your anxiety going.

You should be able to ask these questions by email if you feel uncomfortable asking questions face to face or by phone.

• Does the therapist use CBT techniques as approved by the NICE guidance? Other types of psychological therapy are available, but whichever you choose, it is important you know the therapy style before you begin.

• Check your therapists accreditation. (Scroll to the bottom of the BABCP search page and click the tab “check the register”. To check HCPC therapists visit www.hcpc-uk.org/check-the-register and select ‘practitioner psychologist’)

• Has the therapist treated social anxiety before? (an experienced therapist will understand the subtleties and challenges that social anxiety presents).

• Will the sessions be “in person”, online video call, telephone or typed? (“In person” sessions are first treatment you should be offered according to NICE guidance but other options are possible)

• Will the treatment plan be collaborative and specific to my problems? (i.e. will I get a chance to work through my specific needs)

• Do you use techniques called ‘graded exposure’ and ‘behavioural experiments’? See our page exposure therapy and hierarchies (these are common therapeutic techniques and your therapist should recognise them)

• Do you set practical exercises or ‘homework’?

• Do you check-in on ‘homework’ tasks the following week to see how I got on?

The answers to the above should usually be yes. You could also ask some generic questions about social anxiety, or in relation to your own problems with social anxiety, to gauge if they recognise some of the terminology used and understand the nature of your difficulties.

It is also helpful to ask how many treatment sessions you will need and how long each session is. NICE guidelines recommend around 14 one-hour sessions, approximately one per week.

The therapeutic relationship between you and your therapist is very important. If things do not go well, please see our page on when therapy isn’t working