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Wellbeing Lothian NHS Lothian | Our Services
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Tools to Help Build Your Confidence

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Tools to Help Build Your Confidence

There are lots of things that can help you improve your confidence in social situations. Here are some helpful habits to try:
  1. Write a list of your positive qualities and things you like about yourself.  
  2. Practise calm breathing and try exercise or Progressive Muscle Relaxation to manage your anxiety. 
  3. Make a plan to stop avoiding things and start with small goals. Try out new things or restart old hobbies.  
  4. Talk back to your inner critic. Challenge the way you speak to yourself by asking “what makes me think my thoughts are correct?”  
  5. Focus on what’s around you, rather than on what’s going on in your body. 
  6. Use your senses to stay in the present moment. 
  7. Get help from others by asking the people you trust to tell you what they like about you and what youre good at. You might be surprised at what they say! 

Apps

Calm

Headspace

Mind Shift 

Websites

www.social-anxiety.org.uk  

Self-help guides

Social Anxiety (PDF)

Download a Social Anxiety SelfHelp Guide (PDF) from NHS inform at the bottom of this page. 

Worksheets

Social Anxiety Worksheet 12 – Situational Exposure Building Steps

Social Anxiety Worksheet 13 – Situational Exposure Diary 

Books

Overcoming social anxiety and shyness: a self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques by Gillian Butler 

We’re all mad here: the no-nonsense guide to living with social anxiety by Claire Eastham

Related Resources

  • Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
    Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - CBT - is a psychological therapy based on the relationships between what we think, what we do and how we feel. CBT teaches you how to recognise and tackle problems in the here and now, rather than in the past.
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    landscape of Lothian area
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    The Wellbeing Lothian website has been developed to provide information, self-help resources and links to help you manage your mental health and wellbeing.

    We want to help you make changes in your own lives and point you in a direction to start doing so. This is Wellbeing Lothian’s aim.

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