looking for suggestions for activities for teen with social anxiety
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Any specific suggestions/resources for clubs/activities for an older teen with severe social anxiety? I'm looking for suggestions outside of school as that is even too threatening for her....but not a group therapy/social skills type atmosphere. She enjoys shopping and reading.... I know that's not much to go on...I'm at a loss for a friendly and welcoming atmosphere amongst her same-aged peers, where she could begin to start socializing and potentially make some friends. |
Anonymous
|
What are her other intersts? Reading - a book club
How old is she? Could she try and get a part time job? |
Anonymous
|
She is 17. She has a part-time job that she specifically chose due to it's low level of social interaction
I looked for teen book clubs in montgomery county, md but didn't see much of anything? She is on meds although hasn't made much progress in therapy. |
Anonymous
| How about activities where she'd have something specific to do? IE don't just push her to go to the hs basketball game, but rather, if she's in the say, spirit club, then she has a group to sit with and a specific "thing" to do while there. More structured, less nebulous. I know this advice is generalized, but might this help? |
Anonymous
| PP...something along those lines...but outside of school...do you have any ideas? |
Anonymous
| How about an art class or a cooking class? That way everyone is focused on something in front of them but it's still "social". She can learn some good skills too and doesn't need to interact with anyone if she doesn't feel up for it. |
Anonymous
church youth group? service, like making sandwiches for S.O.M.E.? |
Anonymous
| OP here...some great ideas so far! |
Anonymous
|
Do you live somewhere where there is something like this:
http://www.mcleancenter.org/teens McLean Old Firehouse Teen Center Office Hours Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. 1440 Chain Bridge Rd. McLean, VA 22101 703-448-8336 (TEEN), TTY: 711 703-356-5283 Fax Email us! This award-winning facility, the first of its kind in the metropolitan D.C. area, provides a safe atmosphere for participants to meet for recreation and personal development. Professional and experienced staff members organize and facilitate activities each day, ensuring that participants do not have to return home to empty houses. Participants can enjoy their time at the Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFTC) after school and during the summer. Opened in 1990, the building formerly operated as a local fire station and is now a satellite of the McLean Community Center. |
Anonymous
|
Young Life?
http://www.younglife.org/Pages/default.aspx |
Anonymous
| Volunteer at the library. |
Anonymous
| Our MCPL library hosts a teen book club. Agree re a cooking or art class - I took an evening painting class thru Glen Echo a few years ago and it was a very mixed age group - teens up through 60s or so. Michael's holds classes in cake decorating and various crafting skills. Speaking of which, what about taking a knitting class? I am not a knitter but I thought that there exists knitting "clubs" where people go to knit and socialize. If she likes shopping, how about you suggest that she go to the mall with a friend - maybe you drive them to a bigger, more "special" mall like Leesburg outlets or to shop in Georgetown. |
Anonymous
| PP here - I was a candystriper at a local hospital back when i was in high school, and I met some other teens that way. Or a teen yoga or zumba class? |
Anonymous
| OS she receiving any kind of treatment? Sounds like a pretty intense anxiety and there is help for that kind of suffering. |
Anonymous