Specialist Therapy & Coaching for Social Anxiety and Performance Anxiety
Feel more like yourself in the moments you feel most judged.
Specialist online therapy and coaching for social anxiety, public speaking anxiety, self-consciousness, impostor syndrome and the fear of being seen.
You might be accomplished, capable and outwardly confident, yet still find yourself overthinking what you say, second-guessing your abilities or holding back when you want to speak up and be visible.
My approach focuses on helping you understand and retrain the emotional threat responses that keep these patterns going, so you can trust yourself under pressure and show up more authentically.
You're capable. But you still feel anxious.
From the outside, you may look confident, successful or completely in control. But internally, things can feel very different.
Perhaps you're constantly evaluating yourself, preparing for things to go wrong or wondering whether you really belong in the rooms you've worked hard to enter.
Less self-monitoring. More freedom to be yourself.
The aim isn't to become a different, more polished or permanently confident person. It's to feel freer to act in line with who you are and what matters to you.
Common challenges I work with.
These difficulties rarely exist in isolation. You may recognise yourself in several of them. Select a topic to explore it.
Social & Performance Anxiety
Feeling anxious around colleagues, networking, social situations, interviews or high-pressure environments. You may avoid opportunities or find yourself intensely self-conscious.
Public Speaking Anxiety
Dreading presentations, experiencing strong physical anxiety, losing your train of thought or worrying that others will notice you struggling.
Trauma & Past Experiences
Earlier experiences of humiliation, bullying, exclusion, neglect or other trauma may shape how safe you feel around others today.
Impostor Syndrome
Feeling like a fraud despite your achievements, fearing you'll be exposed or believing success is down to luck.
Belonging & Feeling Different
Feeling like an outsider, questioning whether you fit in or interpreting differences in background, identity or personality as personal inadequacies.
Inferiority & Self-Worth
Feeling less capable, important or worthy than others, comparing yourself constantly or believing you are never enough.
Social Media & Press Presence
Avoiding public visibility, feeling unable to show up authentically online or struggling with criticism, negative comments or public scrutiny.
Fear of Being Seen
Holding back your opinions, hiding your expertise or avoiding opportunities because greater success also brings greater visibility.
Anxiety & Panic
Persistent worry, panic attacks, physical symptoms, hypervigilance and attempts to control thoughts, feelings or behaviour.
Fear of Reputational Damage
Worrying that a mistake, awkward interaction, controversial opinion or moment of vulnerability could damage how others see you. You may carefully manage what you say or avoid taking public risks.
Fear of Negative Evaluation
Feeling sensitive to criticism, disapproval or the possibility that others might think badly of you. This can lead to people-pleasing, overpreparing, reassurance-seeking or monitoring how you come across.
Fear of Fear Itself
Becoming anxious about experiencing anxiety in social or performance situations. You might worry about panicking, blushing, shaking, your mind going blank or visibly losing control. Anticipating these symptoms can become as frightening as the situation.
The Social Visibility Framework™
I developed the Social Visibility Framework to bring together clinical and social psychology in understanding difficulties around evaluation, belonging, self-consciousness and visibility.
It offers five areas of focus that can guide our work together, depending on your needs.
The framework isn't a standalone therapy model. I use established psychological interventions to work towards the changes that matter to you, informed by an understanding of your personal history and social context.
Hi, I'm Sophia.
I'm a BABCP-accredited psychotherapist, coach and founder of The Social Mind Clinic. My background combines mental health, social psychology and politics.
I've worked with everyone from young graduates to CEOs, including people working in the public eye and press. I have extensive experience supporting individuals across finance, the creative sector and the public sector.
I'm particularly interested in the relationship between our social worlds and how we experience ourselves. My work explores not just the anxiety someone feels, but the experiences, beliefs and social environments that have shaped their relationship with visibility, judgement and belonging.
Knowing something logically isn't the same as feeling it.
Most people I work with already know, logically, that they don't need to feel so anxious.
You might know you're qualified for your job, that making a mistake isn't the end of the world, or that speaking up doesn't automatically lead to rejection.
And yet, your body and emotional responses tell you something else. You still feel threatened, exposed or inferior.
That's why my approach isn't primarily about convincing your logical brain of something it may already understand. I'm interested in working with the emotional threat response — what I often call the fear brain.
Through experiential and evidence-based psychological work, we aim to help your brain develop new learning, so situations which currently trigger fear can begin to feel different.
The aim is not simply to think differently about being seen. It's to change your relationship with the experience itself.
How we might work together.
Our sessions are tailored to your goals, experiences and the patterns keeping you stuck. I draw on a range of approaches, choosing interventions according to your needs. The focus is on developing new emotional and behavioural learning, not simply gaining more intellectual insight.
CBT & Cognitive Behavioural Coaching
Identifying and changing unhelpful patterns of thinking, attention and behaviour, including avoidance, self-monitoring and safety behaviours. Behavioural experiments and exposure help create new learning through experience.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Learning to make room for uncomfortable thoughts, physical sensations and emotions, while taking action in line with your goals and values rather than waiting for fear to disappear.
EMDR
Working with distressing experiences, traumatic memories and associated beliefs that may continue to shape how you experience yourself and others.
Compassion & Parts-Informed Work
Understanding self-criticism, shame and protective patterns, including different parts of you that may want conflicting things, and developing a different relationship with these experiences.
What others have shared.
A selection of reviews shared publicly on Trustpilot. Experiences vary, and individual outcomes aren't guaranteed.
“Life changing”
“Starting therapy with Sophia has been life changing. I’ve never felt so comfortable and understood by a therapist and I’ve had so many throughout my life. After just one session I started feeling so much better about my panic attacks and anxiety as she understands the core issue and is so knowledgeable.”
“A genuine interest in what she does”
“I look forward to our sessions even when I’ve had a difficult week because I know I’m going to come away with next steps and feel better about the situation”
“Noticed a difference already”
“I have been attending Sophia's online social anxiety/public speaking fear classes for a short while so far and have noticed a positive difference already. The classes have enabled me to step out of my comfort zone in regards to being more authentic and being more present.”
Options for support.
There are different ways to work with me and my team, depending on what you're looking for and the type of support that may be appropriate.
The Social Mind Clinic.
As my practice has grown, I've built The Social Mind Clinic as an extension of my work and the values that guide my approach.
The clinic brings together a small team of specialist therapists who share my interest in understanding the relationship between our social worlds and psychological wellbeing.
Each therapist brings their own expertise and clinical experience, while working within the clinic's shared approach to psychological care.
All therapists receive regular clinical consultation with me, helping us maintain a collaborative approach, reflect on complex clinical questions and support the quality of care you receive.
Whether you work directly with me or with someone from my team, the clinic is built around the same commitment to specialist, thoughtful and individualised care.
Meet the clinic →You don't have to keep holding yourself back.
Whether you're looking for therapy, coaching or support from one of the specialist therapists within The Social Mind Clinic, the first step is getting in touch.
We can discuss your needs and explore the most appropriate next step together.
Get started →FAQs
-
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Unlike traditional talk therapy that explores your past in depth, CBT is practical and present-focused—we identify the specific thought patterns and beliefs that are keeping you stuck right now, and develop concrete strategies to change them.
Cognitive Behavioural Coaching draws from principles of CBT, but is more suited to goal focused support that is not focused on mental health diagnosis. CBC is more tailored to public speaking anxiety and social confidence. It is not a replacement for appropriate psychological care. If CBC is appropriate this will be discussed with you at the intro call. -
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy that helps your brain reprocess difficult experiences and update unhelpful beliefs. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements, taps, or tones) to help your brain process "stuck" memories and beliefs that contribute to your anxiety.
-
Prices vary based on amount of sessions. Read more here.
-
Social and business blocks often develop from earlier experiences where you felt judged, embarrassed, or rejected. EMDR helps identify and reprocess these core memories, allowing your brain to update the negative beliefs that fuel your anxiety (like "I'm not good enough" or "People will judge me"). This creates lasting change at the root level instead of just managing symptoms.
-
EMDR works effectively for both "big T" traumas and "small t" traumas. Social and/or performance anxiety often stems from seemingly minor experiences (being laughed at, feeling excluded, being criticised, choking up one during public speaking) that had a significant impact. EMDR can help process these experiences regardless of their perceived severity.
-
We'll begin by identifying the specific social situations that trigger anxiety and the negative beliefs you hold about yourself in these situations. Then we'll use EMDR to target the memories that created these beliefs, helping your brain update its understanding. As treatment progresses, we'll also install preferred feelings and rehearse future scenarios with your new perspective.
-
EMDR sessions are 90 minutes to allow sufficient time for the processing to unfold naturally. Shorter sessions often mean interrupting the process just as it's getting to important material, which is less effective.
-
Many clients report feeling shifts after just 1-3 EMDR sessions, though the number needed varies based on your history and the complexity of your anxiety. Some notice they're responding differently to social situations almost immediately, while more complex patterns may take longer to shift fully.
-
While CBT focuses on changing thought patterns, EMDR works directly with the brain's information processing system to update emotional responses at their source. Many clients who found CBT helpful but incomplete find EMDR addresses the deeper emotional components their previous therapy couldn't reach.
-
This varies depending on your history and the complexity of your social anxiety. For specific, focused social or performance anxiety, 1-6 sessions is often sufficient. More complex or longstanding anxiety may require additional sessions.
-
Absolutely. EMDR is particularly effective for performance anxiety, as it can target specific triggering scenarios. Many clients find significant relief for public speaking, performance, or workplace anxiety through targeted EMDR sessions.
-
EMDR sessions are 90 minutes rather than the standard 50-60 minutes, providing nearly double the therapeutic time. The extended format is crucial for EMDR's effectiveness, allowing complete processing cycles without interruption. Additionally, EMDR requires specialised training, supervision and certification beyond standard therapy qualifications, representing a higher level of expertise and specialised care.
-
While the upfront cost may seem higher, EMDR often works out more cost-effective in the long run. Traditional weekly therapy for social anxiety can continue for months or even years, with gradual improvement. In contrast, EMDR typically requires fewer total sessions to achieve significant results, meaning your overall investment may be substantially lower while achieving more profound change.
-
Absolutely! CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and EMDR work excellently together and can create a comprehensive approach. While they work through different mechanisms, they complement each other well. CBT helps you recognise and challenge unhelpful thought patterns and develop practical strategies, while EMDR addresses the underlying emotional experiences and beliefs that fuel your anxiety at their source. Many clients find this combination particularly powerful.
-
Yes. In this case sessions would be weekly sessions of 60 minutes (£110). This allows us to work on an ongoing basis.
-
This is best discussed in our free call to determine your ultimate goals and difficulties, and what’s likely to be effective.
-
Although both involve structured conversations and interventions, therapy and coaching are fundamentally different services.
Therapy
Therapy is a regulated healthcare service.
It is appropriate where difficulties may meet criteria for a recognised mental health condition, or where emotional distress is significantly impacting functioning.
Therapy:
Assesses mental health presentations
May involve diagnosis
Works with clinically recognised difficulties
Follows evidence-based psychological protocols
Is delivered under professional regulation and ethical codes
The focus is on treatment and meaningful psychological change.
Coaching
Coaching is not a healthcare service.
It does not:
Assess or diagnose mental health conditions
Follow clinical treatment protocols
Provide structured evidence-based psychological treatment
Coaching is suitable for individuals who are functioning well overall and want support with performance, public speaking anxiety, confidence, communication, or professional development.
Generally, coaching works with psychological difficulties that do not classify as a mental health diagnosis.
Please note clients in the USA and Canada are only able to access coaching with me. I do not provide therapy to the USA/Canada.