John Bush isn't a therapist who studied social anxiety from a textbook. He's someone who struggled with it himself — and then spent over a decade figuring out how to fix it.
Today, with over 10,000 hours of real-world coaching experience and hundreds of lives changed, John brings that same proven approach to every client he works with.
John Bush knows what it's like to struggle socially. He lived it. Walking into rooms and not knowing what to say, replaying conversations afterward and cringing at what went wrong, watching other people connect effortlessly and wondering what they knew that he didn't.
That experience — and the long process of working through it — is the foundation of everything John teaches. He didn't learn social skills from a book. He developed them the hard way, in real situations, over years of trial and error.
Eventually, he got good at it. Very good. And then he discovered he could teach it.
What started as helping friends and acquaintances became a full coaching practice. Over a decade and more than 10,000 hours of real-world coaching, John has worked with hundreds of people — from teenagers paralyzed by social anxiety to adults who couldn't figure out why their friendships never seemed to last.
His approach is practical, not theoretical. He doesn't teach social skills from a classroom — he works with clients in actual social environments, coaching real interactions in real time. The results speak for themselves.
Private coaching is expensive — and John knows that many of the people who need this help most can't afford it. That's why he founded The SIEL Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit bringing social skills training to teenagers and young adults who can't access private coaching.
The nonprofit runs workshops, school programs, and community events — all built on the same practical, real-world methodology that John has refined through thousands of hours of one-on-one coaching.
John holds a degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also the host of The Social Connection Chronicles podcast.
Real-world coaching that takes place in actual social environments, not over the phone or in an office.
Nearly a decade helping people overcome shyness, social anxiety, and isolation.
From shy teenagers to adults rebuilding their social lives from scratch — across every background and situation.
Social skills are developed through practice in actual situations — not through worksheets or one-on-one talks in an office. John coaches in the real world.
Every session produces concrete, specific skills and exercises you can apply immediately — not vague advice or mindset shifts that go nowhere.
Whether you're starting from severe social anxiety or simply want to sharpen skills you already have, the program meets you where you are.
John has been where you are. That firsthand experience means he understands what you're going through — and knows exactly what it takes to change it.
The first step is a free 30-minute strategy session — a conversation about where you are, where you want to be, and how coaching can help you get there.