Social phobia refers to an unreasonable fear of embarrassing oneself in social or performance situations. One treatment that has repeatedly been shown to be effective with social phobics is cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). This article illustrates the application of cognitive-behavior therapy using a case example of a woman suffering from social phobia. The course of treatment included psychoeducation on anxiety, problem-solving training and behavioral exercises, role-play, cognitive reevaluation, and fade-out and relapse prevention. Cognitive-behavior therapy was found to be very effective in treating the client's social phobia. Treatment implications of the case are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). The Beck Depression Inventory (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
3.
Feske, U., & Chambless, D. L. (1995). Cognitive-behavioral versus exposure treatments for social phobia: A meta-analysis. Behavior Therapy, 26, 695-720.
4.
Gould, R. A., Buckminster, S., Pollack, M. H., Otto, M. W., & Yap. L. (1997). Cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatment for social phobia: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 4, 291-306.
5.
Heimberg, R. G. (2001). Current status of psychotherapeutic interventions for social phobia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62, 36-42.
6.
Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C. B., Hughes, M., Eshleman, et al. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 8-19.
7.
Lang, A. J., & Stein, M. B. (2001). Social phobia: Prevalence and diagnostic threshold. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62, 5-10.
8.
Mattick, R. P., & Clarke, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrunity fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455-470.
9.
Mattick, R. P., & Peters, L. (1988). Treatment of severe social phobia: Effects of guided exposure with and without cognitive restructuring. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 251-260.
10.
Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 487-496.
11.
Noyes, R., & Hoehn-Saric, R. (1998). The anxiety disorders. New York: Cambridge University Press.
12.
Shear, M. K., & Beidel, D. C. (1998). Psychotherapy in the overall management strategy for social anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 59, 39-44.
13.
Sheehan, D. V., Lecrubier, Y., Janavs, J., Knapp, E., Weiller, E., Bonora, L. I., et al. (1994). Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). Tampa: University of South Florida Institute for Research in Psychiatry.
14.
Stein, M. B. (Ed.). (1995). Social phobia: Clinical and research perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
15.
Taylor, S. (1996). Meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatments for social phobia. Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 27, 1-9.
