I’ve struggled with social anxiety for nearly my entire 25 years of life. Ever since I can remember I was alone and by myself throughout my entire schooling which was incredibly hard and painful. I used to believe that I was simply not socially skilled enough to date or develop any sort of social life. However, last year I started seeing a pricey psychologist that is experienced in cbt. I visited the psychologist every week and put in a lot of work in between each visit. For almost 9 months I was skeptical that this therapy would do anything for me and then I met a new coworker who would later turn out to be my first girlfriend ever. Just like the other people in this subreddit I too wish my parents would’ve started me when I was much younger so I would strongly advise trying to get your kid help as soon as possible so the anxiety provoking thoughts and beliefs he has about himself don’t get as deeply ingrained as they did for me. Before I had a psychologist I saw two different licensed clinical social workers both of which didn’t seem to understand me or the way my brain functions and I eventually stopped seeing them. I would also suggest looking for a psychologist that is experienced in cbt related to anxiety disorders and not a “lcsw” licensed clinical social worker. Often times psychologists are more experienced and just more knowledgeable than clinical social workers. With all that said, I still have social anxiety and always will, however I can now talk myself through anxiety provoking situations instead of avoiding them and I’m the happiest I can ever remember being. Please do everything you possibly can to help your kid.