Man holds his head from both sides, thinking painfully

Social anxiety disorder: the real causes often remain untreated

For social anxiety disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy is typically recommended and often supported by psychotropic medication.
However, for thousands, this therapy doesn’t work as intended. After over 12 years of working with countless individuals, I can confidently say: Social anxiety disorders can be effectively overcome—but only if the true causes are identified and treated correctly. Unfortunately, this rarely happens in traditional therapies.

This is why we developed our online therapy program, How to Calm Axiety about seven years ago. With it, you not only gain a complete overview of all triggers of anxiety disorders (including social phobia), but you’ll also learn entirely new anxiety-stopping techniques that actually work.

Most people with social anxiety disorder have only tried breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, distraction techniques, or medication. Yet, since these methods have minimal impact on the brain’s automated anxiety processes, their effect is typically weak and short-lived.

For our online therapy program How to Calm Anxiety we chose a different approach. Based on the latest findings in brain research, we developed a series of anxiety-stopping techniques that can halt social anxiety and numerous anxiety symptoms within seconds—without medication or painful exposure therapy.

Treating social anxiety with online therapy: A personal story

Rather than going into detail about how often social anxiety disorders are mistreated in other therapies, we’d prefer to let someone who has used our online therapy program How to Calm Anxiety to address their social anxieties speak for themselves. Here’s an email they sent us (shared with permission to publish).

“In 2021, I was diagnosed with social phobia, which only worsened over the following years despite therapy. At some point, my parents bought me access to this online therapy. The first thing I tried was the auditory shifting technique, as I had never heard of it before. The effect was instant, which made me both happy and honestly quite angry! Why aren’t such effective techniques taught in every therapy??? Later, I learned from the videos that all these anxiety-stopping techniques are just a temporary solution and that I have to actively reprogram my brain to permanently get rid of the anxiety. Motivated by my initial success, I started using the 10-sentence method every day for 20 minutes before going to bed. About three weeks later, when I had to give a presentation in front of my class, I could hardly believe how little anxiety I felt. It went really well, and the feeling of happiness afterward was indescribable. I’ll definitely keep using this method until the last traces of my social phobia are gone. Thank you so much for these wonderful videos!”

Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder at Home with Online Therapy

Even the best therapy for social anxiety will only help if you dedicate time to it. To work through the 52 videos of How to Calm Anxiety in full, you’ll need about 7 hours. Afterward, a personalized mental training program begins, for which you should set aside around 20 minutes daily. Social anxiety sufferers who diligently follow all the exercises typically feel a noticeable improvement in many social interactions within just a few weeks.

How long it ultimately takes to fully overcome social anxiety depends greatly on how long you have been dealing with it. However, most users of “How to Calm Anxiety” report that 6 to 12 weeks of mental training (20 minutes per day) were enough to live a largely anxiety-free life.

About us

Daniela- & Klaus Bernhardt — Institute for Modern Psychotherapy

Daniela & Klaus Bernhardt

Klaus Bernhardt runs the Institute for Modern Psychotherapy in Berlin together with his wife Daniela Bernhardt.

What our users say:

Troy A.
    Troy A.

    Tampa, Florida

    “I’m thrilled to have discovered this method. This online course helped me more than two visits to the clinic and 50 sessions with my therapist.”

    Carolina H.
      Carolina H.

      Boston, Massachusetts

      “You immediately notice that the psychologist who created this course knows what it means to suffer from agoraphobia. With care and competence, these 52 videos guided me step by step out of my fear. I can never thank Klaus Bernhardt enough for that.”

      Emma D.
        Emma D.

        Louisville, Kentucky

        “Thanks to your online therapy, I finally understood why I couldn’t get rid of my emetophobia until now. Just two weeks after working regularly with the 10-sentence method, I noticed how this fear, which has been with me since I was 16, became much less severe. After about 8 weeks, I could eat out again without any worries for the first time. Thank you very much for your work; you have enriched my life immeasurably.”

        Tom R.
          Tom R.

          New York City

          “Dear Mr. Bernhardt, I haven’t had a panic attack in months. Your online course helped me better than all the medications I tried before. It is such a blessing for anyone suffering from an anxiety disorder. You are welcome to publish my mail on your website so that as many sufferers as possible can learn how they can finally recover.”

          Lillian P.
            Lillian P.

            Austin, Texas

            “Thank you so much for this anxiety course. After the first few episodes, I was sure I could finally do something about my fears. And that’s precisely how it was. Step by step, I managed to reclaim my old life. It wasn’t always easy, but every time I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere, there was another video that gave me the courage and made me aware of everything I had already achieved. My focus on myself, my environment, and my future has changed a lot as a result. Today I can proudly say that I have managed to overcome my anxiety disorder through my efforts. I will definitely recommend the course to others!”

            Online Therapy with Proven Effectiveness – Immediate Help for:

            52 episodes with almost 7 hours of video material

            No risk: The methods of this online therapy for self-help have been successfully used in clinics in Europe for over seven years. Over 250,000 people have already managed to lead lives without fear and panic using this method.

            The new online version of self-therapy offered here has been thoroughly tested by psychiatrists and neuroscientists and found to be highly effective. Since the publication of this online therapy, over 16,000 former anxiety patients have given us feedback that they have managed to free themselves from their anxiety disorder using only these 52 videos.