One-On-One Counseling For Social Anxiety And Social Skills With Chris MacLeod, MSW RSW
Aside from writing about social skills, I'm also a licensed counselor. If you want to improve your social life or self-confidence I can give you personalized, one-on-one help.
Practical details
- Who I can see - At the moment I can only work with clients who live in Ontario, Canada. I'm only licensed by my professional college to see people from my province. That includes for online sessions. I don't offer separate "coaching" services to get around this limitation.
- Ages I work wtih - I work with clients who are 18-years-old and older
- Am I taking new clients right now? - Yes, I'm currently taking new clients
- Session format - Online through video chat
- Rate - $150.00 CDN for 60 minutes (no extra tax)
- Sliding scale - I offer a sliding scale. Please ask me about it during a consultation call
- Hours - Monday to Friday, 10 AM - 5 PM, with a few evening spots available
- Insurance - I'm a Registered Social Worker (RSW). If you have an insurance or benefits package that allows you to see a social worker, sessions with me are likely covered by it. Though check with your provider to be sure, of course
Getting started
If you're thinking of working with me please send an email to:
Please briefly explain what areas you'd like my help with. From there we can schedule a free consultation video chat where you can ask me any questions you have, and get a sense of whether I'd be a good fit for you.
(Note, if you're the parent of a young adult who you think could benefit from seeing me, please pass on my contact information and let them get in touch directly)
More on social skills and social confidence counseling
Through counseling you can get individual support to help you feel more confident and improve your social life.
I can treat issues such as:
- Shyness and social anxiety
- Loneliness and trouble making and keeping friends
- Difficulty making conversation and connecting with others, whether that's at the level of lighter chit chat or having more intimate discussions
- Feeling insecure and unconfident, believing you're flawed and don't have much to offer socially
- Having trouble with work relationships, like feeling out of place or intimidated by your co-workers or managers
- Having a harder time in social settings due to your neurodiversity, such as being on the autism spectrum, or having ADHD or a learning disability
- Struggling socially due to having a more unique personality, values, and interests, which don't jell with the more typical type of people around you
- Wanting closer relationships, but also feeling wary and guarded around others, because they've burned you the past
- Inner conflict and ambivalence about working on your social life - wanting a change on one level, but also feeling wary about the idea of having to give up who you are to fit in
I can help clients improve their present-day social skills and confidence. Depending on what you need, we might focus on hands-on, practical areas such as:
- Troubleshooting ways to meet people and start friendships
- Practicing making more effective conservation
- Working out how to handle confusing social situations, like talking to a friend who's become less available
- Learning relaxation skills to better manage social anxiety
- Coming up with and carrying out a plan to gradually face your social fears
I can also guide clients in doing deeper work on the roots of their fears and insecurities. If we decide that's an appropriate direction we could spend time on things like:
- Exploring and finding the mental patterns and core beliefs that play a role in your difficulties
- Processing and working through the emotionally charged memories of upsetting past events that keep your anxiety and sense of unworthiness going
- Healing the core attachment wounds that hinder you from having comfortable, fulfilling relationships
I often also help clients with issues tied into their social challenges. For example:
- Trouble with dating and relationships
- Managing the unhelpful coping strategies that can develop to deal with feelings of anxiety, loneliness, or not being good enough
- Dealing with family members who don't accept or understand what you're going through
Many of my clients first come to me for help with a social problem. Once we start working together we may pivot to tackling other areas where they'd also like to make some changes.
The next step
Once again, if you're curious about working with me drop me a line at therapy@chrismacleodmsw.com, briefly covering what problem areas you'd like to change. After that we can schedule a free consultation video chat.
My therapy practice's website
It has similar information as this page, but if you'd like you can also check out the separate site I have for my therapy practice: