So I went on today for the first time. It seems to be mostly waiting for someone to read, then a few minutes of reading and several more minutes of silence. It also was really awkward because there was no way to know who was there/ how many people. I'm going to maybe try again Wednesday but I think I'll be better off just going to the local group.

I dont see how calling that number can help anyone. I called, and i heard someone say to read from some book, a few minutes of no one saying anything, then someone reading then silence again. I thought it was going to be one big conversation about sad going on.

I am interesting to try this! But some posts said it doesn't work at all

From what others have said about it already it sounds less than helpful. Waiting to hear someone read... ?

I used to call this line every week. Was pretty helpful originaly. The silences on the line are kinda the nature of the beast when you are talking about socially shy people. Can be tough to speak up sometimes. Later sessions the moderator would go on and on about supposed harrasing phone calls and people spreading rumors about the callers. Since no one gives their name im not sure how any rumors of people can even start. I'd never heard any such things said. The moderator would create a hostile mood to the call. a couple of times being downright rude and abusive to some of the people calling for help. The moderator sent me a really nasty email after i emailed him and suggested that his tone could drive people away. I stopped calling after that.

Its was about time somebody open such hotline, Social Phobics is not a kind of phobic that anyone can cure on his own, the problem is further that its hard to even getting out of the house, so hotline over the phone is a fantastic idea, thanks for sharing

Hey everyone. I used to call in regularly and like Stanley Joe wrote the moderator does unfortunately create a threatening atmosphere. I also have received one of his nasty emails. It was very surprising as I had a genuine desire to help and find help. The moderator Phil is one of the people that created Social Phobics anonymous. I think its been about a 18 months since I have called in. If you do call in and the moderator begins to warn you about callers that have in the past gotten members emails and numbers in order to harass them I would be weary. MobiusX post was very accurate. Please be careful when calling. My experience was good at first but unfortunately bad in the end. I hope others have a more positive experience than I did. Best wishes to everybody.

*Thinking of calling tomorrow*

Sorry if I'm asking a redundant question, but does anyone have the most current link? Essentially, how do I get access to the current number/code?

Thank you so much... I have such a horrible phone phobia and am really struggling especially now, whilst job searching/ often failing to make the callbacks. I, for some reason, am able to do these things in person, but when it comes to the phone, I'm scared s***less.

why is this group so popular, all you can do there is read the same thing every week from their site, this is only for those who want to practice reading out loud, that's all, forget about getting advice from other people, it won't happen, its against the rules, all you can do is read what they wrote....

well i called a few minutes ago i found it very interesting to listen to the callers in the group. i haven't talk yet because i wasn't sure how to.

Idk. I'm kinda scared calling this.

That may be because there is none. Only Malaysia is mentioned under "Asia". There does not seem to be one for Australia either. Is it possible to ring the telephone number in another country? (apart from the cost, of course)

when i called tonight the number was changed so here is the new number they gave me

267-507-0420

the pin number follow by the pound key # 711270

you dont have to do any talking until you feel ready.

i have attented a couple of times.
I think the group is a good idea and it could help but it would be better if:
-you can see the names of the people like in a teamspeak session so that i know how many are listening and who is speaking, would be a more familiar atmosphere
-the group leader should be a social confident person who doesnt struggle with sa anymore so he is an good example for everyone in the group. In my call their was a girl, even though she sounded friendly and caring she still had SA and that gives you the feeling "she tried the 12 steps for some years but it doesnt seem to work very well"
-there are sometimes long silences, its quite discouraging at times but it also gives you a feeling that you are not alone with being shy. After the session i always felt much more at peace with myself and much more accepting of my quietness

i called them a few times on saturday meetings as this is the only time i can attent here from germany. I would reccomend it for anyone who feels alone in dealing with SA. It alone isnt a cure for your SA but it might be a great support to other self help stuff you are doing.
I have a counselour which is very good who i can talk to thats why i dont need these 12 step groups anymore. I allready have a healthy social confident individual to share my experiences and feelings.

For anyone here saying it doesnt work: please try it before you make judgements. It also depends on if you are talking in the group or not. You cant accept yourself until you expose yourself a little bit and see how accepting the group is towards you. Sometimes just a "hi" is enough, cause the group leader responds to every word you say which is good you feel supported then.

Anyone from UK calls in?

OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooK.....The group.....Im going to be completly honest....
Simualar to Stanley Joe and Herewithyou ive also had a taste of the real Phil except mine was over the phone.
I waited a while so that I would be sure not to give info that was based off bias or rather scewd SA views on the situation.its been a few months since my experience ,and ive healed alot more since then,and dont believe its bias. ill just tell my story and state some simple facts.

First notice the dates ranging back to early 2010 and MobiusX is right they dont allow us to give info and the reason they say they dont is because of these people thats supposedly in NY. but if u call in tonight the times Phil gives now clearly dont add up or match up seeing Phil says this started last summer,yet on this page it can be observed that early 2011 information wasnt allowed,and it can be seen that Sanley Joe was actually calling in when these lies were being told and wasnt seeing this.

My experience is this...when I started calling around last oct. it was something I would have suggested to any one.Reading the literature and I thought it was a shame these ppl from New York messed it up so that we couldnt support each other better.It was alot of silence and Im not special,because I was able to share;its the way it came together.Id been doing therapy for years,and was starting to see good results,had a biiiiig relapse which landed me in the hospital for about a week .....After coming out there was another big breakthrough and I was about to explode and really needed to let some stuff out .

When I shared for the first few weeks it was still silent but others would share at times and it was increasing.Phil the owner/moderator which at the time I had nothing but respect for,and still would if it wasnt for what hes doing;took a interest in me and talked to me afterward(so I thought was for support).
Early talks with Phil did concern me that he made small of other ppls inability to share in joking ways and talked about the support group like it was a business,but the whole thing was all very new to me and I thought it may have been my imagination at first.
also Yes he sets a hostile tone to the group and very suddly does things to make others feel bad about themselves,but again I didnt know if it was just my SA paranoia or real.

He asked me on a thur. meeting if I would talk to him after mondays meeting about the ppl or rather his boogy man now I know in New York that was harrasing them and ways I could help even and I was all for it.
When we arrived at the conversation and I mean as soon....
now I want to be very clear when I say no exagerration.....

As SOON as the last person hung up his entire tone with me changed and he said he didnt know if he wanted to talk to me any more.Then said wait....
we waited....
waited.....
while he decided if he still wanted to talk to me.

Now this process is and anxiety causing one any way,but especially for a person with SA,and the thing is I was very blessed because the cog/behavoral therapy was able to be utilized and in that process a surreal breakthrough happen,and though I was anxious I could clearly percieve at this piont.

A few things that was recognized was tecniques Ive seen thats only come from therapist or ppl ive known thats had education in psyc
ology,and I could see that what was going on didnt make since.
when he decided to talk too me; he began to get me straight about taking pop shots at him in the group, and said that hes not wrong about these things, and told me I had a problem with athority figures.So I said to him the truth .that I wasnt taking pop shots and wanted to know what he meant, and also let him know that I didnt think of him as a authority figure but a organizer ,and asked him if thats why he was upset.He didnt answer the question by using more phycological tecniques that was recognized,but he did let me know at that time that he started the phone service.

which I didnt know,and all before that I just knew him to be one of the moderators.After that he shifted gears and started asking me alot of questions really quick about myself that was very personal, and I answered his questions; which literally would have been a process of breaking me down mentally seeing as his questions started from when I was a kid til current times, and were with precision:yet even though I was seeing clearer it still didnt make since he would be doing what it looked like he was doing,but yet it was taking place.

Then he switched gears and began talking to me civil,so we talked more and thats when I found out he did web promotion ,and that he had complete control over the phone line,and later I found out he knows how to get grants which is a skill thats not known in vain.
I know because its something at one time I was interested in.

After that talk I was on the phone as people would get cut off,also would hear him night after night tell lies about the phone service that I knew he had complete control over ,because after that conversation we had which lasted for hours he asked me if we could talk on a night when there was no meeting going on and meet in the phone line.

It took a few weeks of hearing him lie. Then see that he didnt like when people shared ,and would subliminally say things to intimedate ppl from sharing ,and also seen people that had started sharing and was doing well;mysteriously stop calling more than once.

Then there would be people that called in ,and every thing would begin to sound scripted,and it would also intimedate ppl from sharing,because even if ur healing from this condition its certain things no matter where ur at on the spectrum thats challenging.
ppl would call in for one or two phone calls about 3 to 5 at a time speaking very clear confident and scripted sounding talking with him.
Then they all at once would stop calling in groups;which also happened multiple times.

Then I had been sharing and he would do tricks with the phone line that I know he could do because he makes it no secret he controls the whole thing from a computer, and these quick distractions would make me forget what I was saying.
I feel I was very blessed because the cog/behavoral therapy would help,but things would just come back to mind, and after while he would have spells of mysteriously not coming back to the phone after these things would happen.

Then After weeks of observing all of what I knew to be untruths told.As well as all the suspicious behavior.
it became clear to me that if this place was what they said they were its excellent,but its not.Its not a real support group.
I then started looking at everything and realizing all the inconsistencies 4instance;

the place supposedly was around for ten years,yet I couldnt find it till recently.and il admit I had stopped looking for a while since about 2010,but then it occured to me that in 2010 there was a place that had the exact same graphics on there website as there current graphics to the t.
I had started calling the other group about mar. 2010,but it was for regular anxiety not SA,so thats why I stopped,but I looked for these ppl on the net and no longer could find them,or any one:
except his group;and alot of web marketing;in the form of false blogs that I recognized ,and dont take my word 4 it.Check out what web marketing is.
it can involves acting like ur writing a ginuine blog but really advertising ur product;and the reason they can be spotted easier than a regular blog or forum afterwhile is the way there worded.
its no direct piont only advertisement, and information ;to ...advertise.

So then I thought about it and lets say its legitamate and for some reason it just didnt show up in my area or something still that dont explain after ten years why the groups so small.

Then he speaks of a board of senoir members that come from local groups ,and the phone groups secondary,but on his website it says local groups can be started by any one, and they simply advertise .....;Sooooo how on earth is there a board of senior members from local groups that he only advertises for.
Also lets say it is;how is it a person suffering from SA truthfully to the level he says he is recovering or rather has recovered 85% from get around to all these differnt places to meet and greet these people to even build a trust to franchise a support group through different states.
Also they make decisions on whats what????whats best for the treatment of the people with SA that call.
OK if therapist and Dr.s that are trained barely help,and they have training;how on earth is a group of volunteers going to do what trained therapist rarely can.Also again according to the website all they do is advertise for local groups.I apologize about the length but the best thing I can do is tell my experience in hopes to help others....
cont on another entry

Now after considering these things and also noticing how much of a monopoly he actually has on SA phone support groups;to much didnt add up.So it was kindoff eating at me what happened and I made the deciscion I would share it but vaigly,so no one would be discouraged that was a new caller.
so I very vaigly shared the experience I had earlier with him at a group meeting which at that time was the only place I could let things out.
and I said it naming nothing specific and it in no way was recognizable it was me sharing a bad experience I had with a person:
very truthfully vaige and respectfully done.

wasnt sure if I would call back,but that night when the meeting was over,and it was the time members talked amongst themselves.he cut everyone off the phone except us-

(I only know this because before I hung up I checked who else was on the phone and it was just us.also another group member told me they got disconnected at this time:Prior to that I had checked how many ppl were on the phone and it was 5 besides me)

-and started employing elaborade psycology on me, and I let him know that I really felt cautious because what he was doing Ive observed from people that learned these things in class,and with a very guilty sounding voice he quickly replied that he wasnt a Psyce major;
which I never said he was.

Then he started yelling and told me to get out of his life and I was banned.So I told him I was never in his life and that if I found out that he did to any one else what he did to me I would expose him for what he was doing.

So in conclusion dont take my word for it, and I still would not say not to call.
it can be helpful.
The time I called it helped me.
I would warn that theres more than meets the eye there,and to be mindful if things begin not to look right.
Ive talked to another person who was a part of that group who's name im not going to give because it broke the rules that we were even in touch, and I dont want to get that person in trouble.
but found out that he wanted me gone and was talking about it with them from day 1,and some other stuff.
So I can say its not a real support group ,and that the rules of the group isnt gone by because one of the rules is not to gossip about other group members.
yet I think that what makes him uncomfortable is when people are really healing because they can see clearer;
and as a result see through scams they may not have been able to see before.

So look I hope the best for every one and for what its worth I would advise call, and to look at it as a stepping stone.
and if something happen to you please share it to help other people.

Ive seen the most success from Dr.Richards program which is spoke of on this site.its been 5 years and my SAs which was very very severe is almost gone Praise the Lord.

Thats what I have to say on this matter thanks if u read all this and please be careful.
if Phil ask to talk to you by yourself I would advise having a witness,Be Blessed and I hope ur experience is bettere than mine was...sorry this is so long ,but beleive it or not quite a bit was left out just to touch on the most important stuff. ok be blessed

Please keep in mind that there are always two sides to every story and that in telephone groups, just like on message boards, you can get very negative people or groups of people who will run down anybody.

I can tell you for a fact that the Social Anxiety Anonymous telephone group was harassed for over 2 years by an outside group (actually two outside groups). They made the normal functioning of the phone group extremely difficult at times. One was a group of cyber-stalkers and the other was a specific group of malicious callers from New York (although throughout all of this, there were always New York based group members in the call who were really nice people and were always welcomed in the groups).

As the result, increasing rules and restrictions were put in place to try to deal with these hostile groups interfering in the normal functioning of the Social Anxiety Anonymous telephone support groups.

At the same time there were also some very good people who did not like the new restrictions. And other good people who had been lied to or misinformed by by these hostile groups--

These very decent and good people people may not have fully understood the amount of harassment that had occurred previously or what was occurring off the phones (some older group members were being hacked and cyberstalked and also phone-stalked in really horrible ways-- and for a very long time). One cyberstalker that was later identified has a criminal record.

So the situation had become quite scary, which led to all the rules and restrictions in the telephone groups and an admittedly increasingly cautious attitude on the part of moderators.

Nevertheless there were people who did not seem to like the restrictions who were also very good people and did not seem to grasp or know about what other, older or previous, group members had been put through before the additional rules and limits were put in place. So there was also controversy among reasonable people about the newer rules and limits on activities in the call.

Anyway, those phone groups finally shut down when the conference call account owner, who was also having problems with worsening social phobia and didn't want to offer groups on his personal conference call account anymore, in around April of 2013, and the Social Anxiety Anonymous website was also left unpaid for by its owner and went down some time later.

To keep some perspective on the size of Social Anxiety Anonymous (which made it vulnerable to outside interference) was the fact that the three phone groups were never larger than 15 people each and often only about half of that [and also usually the same regulars in each group]. Plus there was an unofficial unlisted group that was opposed to the new security restrictions (probably still active) and some local (public and private / unlisted) groups. Social Anxiety Anonymous has always been a very, very tiny organization.

The reality is, people who have social phobias have an extremely hard time attending live (telephone or face to face) support groups. So it has always been an extremely small organization. Not that it isn't a great idea and not that it can't help people (it is and it has)--

The phone groups were also treated like a small country by this very fevered opposition group when it was really never more than just a couple of very small support groups--

It also got in some controversy because Social Anxiety Anonymous had re-written the 12 steps (originally borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous) and had begun to run it's support groups in an alternative format to how (some) other 12 step programs run. This also led to a passionate campaign by some traditional 12 step people who didn't like the changes.

***But on the other hand, the whole organization was extremely tiny (maybe the big website made the organization seem big) so a "fervent" opposition campaign was run, but on the receiving end of this was a tiny handful of people three support groups with 15 people (at the extreme maximum, often in reality only half of that).

Local (fact to face) support groups (both public and unlisted), including people who gave up on the phone groups involve more people, including some spin-off organizations.

In any case, a new Social Anxiety Anonymous website has gone up just recently and there have always been other Social Anxiety Anonymous groups or related groups running.

Here is the new website-- http://www.socialanxietyanonymous.wordpress.com

It may or may not change to a somewhat better blog host in the near future in which case I will try to remember to post the new link here.

Otherwise, just search for "Social Anxiety Anonymous, Wordpress" and it should come right up, whether or not it moves.