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Power, wealth, and success cannot protect against severe anxiety or shame.

What we fear most—honest self-disclosure—is often the very thing that heals us.

Profound relief sometimes begins with a single act of honesty.

“I can control markets, and I can control thousands of employees. But I can’t control myself.”

This is what I heard when I received a call from a wealthy and powerful man in New York who owned one of the companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

He was profoundly unhappy because he’d struggled with extreme social anxiety ever since childhood and had spent his life hiding it out of shame. The only time he felt calm was when he was running a board meeting at his company, because there, he was powerful, in control, and knew exactly what to do. In every other setting, he felt insecure, anxious, and miserable.

He said he had a beautiful wife and three wonderful children, but he was even anxious around them, terrified they’d notice how nervous and inadequate he felt. Family holidays were a nightmare. They lived in a huge house, and relatives would gather for Christmas, New Year’s, and other celebrations. And yet making small talk, relaxing, or simply being........

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