Today’s guest is Dr. Ellen Hendriksen. This is her second appearance on Untangle to share her expertise on all issues related to anxiety. She’s a clinical psychologist who focuses on releasing anxiety so that you can be more of your authentic self. Ellen serves on the faculty at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and is the author of How To Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. Her scientifically-based, zero-judgment approach has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Oprah Magazine and many other media outlets. 

She defines anxiety as a close cousin to another familiar emotion, which is fear. Fear is immediate. Fear is when the snarling dog is running at you. Fear is when the bus is barreling down the road at you. Anxiety is also fear, but it’s fear cast to the horizon. It’s fear out in the uncertain future. 

And she discusses social anxiety. 

It’s not surprising, she says, that at the heart of social anxiety is perfectionism and perfectionism is a little bit of a misnomer because it's not really about trying to be perfect. It's about never feeling good enough. And that ties right into the very definition of social anxiety; feeling like there's some flaw that we need to cover or hide, or else people will judge and reject us. She presents a number of tools to work with our anxiety, whether we want to deepen our relationships, build confidence, face our social fears in a more supportive way or challenge your own perfectionism standards.

Good news! She also talks about the superpowers of anxiety. 

Resources: Ellenhendriksen.com 

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