Performance Anxiety
Performance anxiety is intense fear of being judged harshly when you are expected to perform, whether on stage, in a meeting, or in an exam. It can hold back talent and opportunity.
What does CBT for performance anxiety help?
Performance anxiety is intense fear of being judged harshly when you are expected to perform, whether on stage, in a meeting, or in an exam. It can hold back talent and opportunity. CBT helps you quiet self-criticism, manage physical symptoms, and build confidence through gradual practice.
Challenge anxious and perfectionistic thinking. CBT for performance anxiety helps you identify catastrophic thoughts (“I’ll blank and everyone will notice”) and replace them with balanced, realistic thinking, so self-criticism no longer drives your nerves before presentations, interviews, exams, or performances.
Manage physical symptoms and shift your focus. You learn practical skills to ease a racing heart, shaky hands, and tension, and to move attention from yourself to the task at hand, which helps with public speaking anxiety, test anxiety, and stage fright.
Build confidence through gradual practice. Step by step, you rehearse the situations you have been avoiding, reduce over-preparing and other safety behaviors, and learn that you can perform well even while feeling nervous.