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How is extreme introversion overcome with cognitive behavioral therapy?

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Introversion is a personality trait with very interesting peculiarities, and the people who develop it live life in a very special way. However, when this tendency towards introversion is very extreme, this fact can lead to some problems as long as the person develops certain emotional management and relationship management skills personal.

In this article we will briefly see what these problems may consist of due to excess introversion and how are they approached from cognitive-behavioral psychological therapy.

  • Related article: "The main theories of personality"

What do we understand by introversion?

Introversion is a psychological trait contemplated in several of the most important personality classification systems, such as the Big Five Model, developed by Raymond Cattell and other researchers.

It can be defined as the predisposition to show great interest in internal psychological processes, that is, a propensity to focus on processes related to introspection: reflect, recall past experiences, recreate in imaginary situations, etc.

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Thus, introversion is conceptualized as the opposite of extraversion. While introverts highly value being able to devote time and attention span to experiencing private psychological processes, Extraverted people tend to seek experiences that provide them with external sources of stimulation: meeting new people, playing sports, traveling, etc.

Evidently there are no just introverts or just extravertsRather, they are two personality poles between which there is a wide scale of gray. For this reason, in practice, all people with a marked tendency to extraversion need to have moments of loneliness and relative lack of external stimulation, and all very introverted people require participation in social activities or that involve making changes in their environment.

  • You may be interested in: "The 7 types of loneliness, and their causes and characteristics"

What problems can excess introversion cause?

Although introversion may be considered negative in many societies, it does not have to be; it is a personality form with its advantages and disadvantages, like any other. In addition, in some cultures, introversion is more valued than extraversion, although this is not the case of hegemonic Western culture in much of the world today. Yes indeed, when a personality trait is extremely marked, this can lead to common problems.

As introversion is one of the most structural elements of the personality, its effects on the introvert's life can be reflected in many different ways; And for this same reason, when someone shows an excess of introversion, this is usually reflected in a great variety of problems.

However, within this wide range of negative consequences derived from an extreme tendency to introversion, in practice the following stand out, which are among the most frequent. Keep in mind that not all very introverted people have to experience these difficulties or sources of discomfort, but in general terms, these are the ones that should be highlighted.

  • Communication problems by not engaging in active listening behaviors
  • Predisposition to enter a lifestyle linked to excessive social isolation
  • Predisposition to suffer stress or anxiety in complex social interactions
  • Predisposition to suffer stress or anxiety in social interactions with people they do not know
  • Lack of initiative in situations in which a leadership role is required on their part.
Therapy for introversion problems
  • Related article: "Top 10 Advantages of Being an Extraverted Person"

The cognitive-behavioral model in the face of introversion problems

The cognitive-behavioral psychological intervention model aims to help people promote positive transformations both in the management of their emotions and their cognitions (that is, in the private psychological processes linked to our thoughts and to our side affective behavior) as well as in the management of observable behavior patterns (the way of communicating, the management of their day-to-day routines, the management of the time, etc.).

In the case of intervention in the face of problems due to excess introversion, these processes of improvement of the person's skills stand out:

1. Training in active listening practices

Active listening helps not only lead to more meaningful conversations, but also help avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. The tendency to extreme introversion often makes people who speak to these people feel ignored or underappreciated.

  • You may be interested in: "Active listening: the key to communicating with others"

2. Work on managing anxiety in social situations

Although introversion and shyness are not the same, they often overlap because one leads to the other. For this reason, it is common in therapy to help very shy people to face their fears related to their way of dealing with unknown or semi-unknown people, through ways such as improving self-esteem, the use of relaxation techniques in moments key, visualization techniques of socially complex situations (imagination training) and more.

  • Related article: "What are the negative effects of the fear of making a fool of yourself?"

3. Social skills training

Sometimes very introverts find themselves in situations where they find that their circle of friends has become too narrow and limited to friends from many years ago. To "open up" more and make friends of their current age (something that in these cases may be something unknown to that person, when interacting only with friends of childhood), in therapy they can be helped to socialize by understanding the unspoken codes of communication.

  • You may be interested in: "Top 14 Social Skills for Success in Life"

Are you looking for professional psychological support?

If you are interested in having psychological assistance to overcome the emotional imbalances arising from relationships personal and adopt new patterns of more adaptive and useful behavior to face the day to day, get in touch with me.

I am an expert psychologist in the cognitive-behavioral model, and I work helping both adults and adolescents as well as companies and teams both in face-to-face psychology sessions and online by video call.

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