Helping Students Overcome Social Anxiety Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS)

Social anxiety disorder causes significant distress and academic impairment for many adolescents. This unique book gives front-line school professionals innovative, easy-to-use tools for identifying and intervening with socially anxious students in grades 6–12. It presents Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS), a school-based intervention with demonstrated effectiveness. Case examples and sample scripts demonstrate how to implement psychoeducation, cognitive strategies, social skills training, exposure, and relapse prevention with groups and individual students. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, the book includes 22 reproducible handouts. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

This book is in The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, edited by Sandra M. Chafouleas.

Carrie Masia Warner, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey, Research Scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University Langone Medical Center. Dr. Masia Warner is an expert in pediatric anxiety disorders and school implementation of evidence-based interventions. She has systematically developed and evaluated interventions for children and adolescents in community settings, with a focus on enhancing the identification and treatment of teenagers with social anxiety by training front-line school professionals. She has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
 
Daniela Colognori, PsyD, is Clinical Director of the Tourette Syndrome Clinic at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She is also a founding partner at Specialized Psychological Services, a private clinical practice. She works with children, adolescents, and families, with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety, mood, tic, and body-focused repetitive behavior disorders. Dr. Colognori’s research interests and publications focus on improving access to evidence-based interventions for youth with anxiety and mood disorders through partnerships with schools.
 
Chelsea Lynch, MA, is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Florida State University (FSU). She earned her MA in psychology at New York University (NYU), where she worked in the NYU Langone Medical Center’s Child Study Center, focusing on a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of counselor-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety in schools. Ms. Lynch has worked in clinical outpatient, residential, and forensic settings, and currently conducts psychological assessments and provides evidence-based treatment to adults and youth in the community through the FSU Psychology Clinic. Her research interests include evaluating psychological risk factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of co-occurring psychological disorders.
 

I. Recognizing and Addressing Social Anxiety at School
1. What Is Social Anxiety?
2. Why Treat Social Anxiety at School?
3. Identifying Students Struggling with Social Anxiety
II. Promoting Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS)
4. Educating Teenagers about Social Anxiety
5. Socially Anxious Thinking 101
6. Realistic Thinking
7. Go Ahead, Start the Conversation
8. Maintaining Conversations and Extending Invitations
9. The Secret to Meaningful Conversations: Listening to What Others Say 
10. Your Needs Matter: Learn to Speak Up!
11. Facing Your Fears: Creating a Fear Ladder
12. Climbing the Ladder: Exposure Practice in School
III. Supplementary Strategies
13. Getting Parents Involved: How Can They Help?
14. School Social Events and Peer Facilitators
15. Classroom Strategies for Teachers
IV. Other Practical and Clinical Considerations
16. The Nuts and Bolts of Helping Anxious Students at School: Putting It All Together
17. Applying Intervention Skills to Other Anxiety Concerns 
18. Keep It Up!: Ways to Maintain Student Progress