weekly March 6, 2023, Issue 848
CRS Prep: Social Anxie-Tea
Scenario: You’ve RSVP’d to an event you’re genuinely excited about, like CRS, but find yourself getting increasingly nervous in the months and weeks leading up to it. We’ve all been there. But, with only a week to go, your anxiety progresses into dread, an overwhelming fear that threatens your ability to enjoy an important learning and networking opportunity. While nervousness in social situations can be common, people with social anxiety or social anxiety disorder experience higher levels of worry and anxiousness, which can cause them to isolate and withdraw from situations. With CRS on the horizon, Country Aircheck spoke with Hall WCTK/ Providence, RI morning host and Licensed Mental Health Counselor Courtney Kelley about ways to challenge those distorted thoughts and beliefs, replacing them with Courtney Kelley more healthy thinking. First and foremost, Kelley recommends people who feel anxiety is affecting their functioning and interfering with how they want to live their life look into therapy services, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. “CBT can help the client see the connection between the thoughts they have and how those thoughts influence feelings and behaviors,” she says. Additionally, she shared tips and tools for people looking to expand their comfort zones: 1. Practice deep breathing and meditation. Learn a quick breathing technique (4-7-8 technique, square breathing, etc.) and use it daily – and in anxiety-provoking situations – to calm and stay centered. Utilize mindfulness or short meditation daily so you can learn to stay present and not latch on to the anxious thoughts. Utilize a few deep breaths if you feel anxiety coming on. 2. Prepare for your social encounter. Set an intention. If you are attending an event, ask yourself what your goal is. What three things do you want to accomplish, learn and explore at the event that day? Focus on the goals and steps it would take to accomplish them. Give yourself permission to take breaks when needed. (continued on page 8)
The Mockingbird & The Show: Big Loud‘s Hardy (r) and River House/Columbia’s Jameson Rodgers (l) with Big Loud‘s Nikki Wood and WKXC/Augusta‘s Chris O’Kelley.
March On: Print Preview
Landing next week, Country Aircheck’s March print issue opens with a solution to CRS small talk, offers profiles of this year’s New Faces artists, includes the annual Label Contacts pages and closes with a blockbuster label head interview. Cris Lacy “How ‘bout this weather?” and Ben Kline and “When’d you get in?” only go so far, right? In “Networking For Dummies (Like Us),” Country Aircheck asked CRB Board and
© 2 0 2 3 Co u n t r y A i rc h e c k ™ — A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . S i g n u p f re e a t w w w. c o u n t r y a i rc h e c k . c o m . S e n d n e w s t o n e w s @ c o u n t r y a i r c h e c k . c o m