Use of the C.A.T. Project for a Socially Anxious Teenager: Lessons Learned From Manual Modification

Abstract

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent mental disorder among adolescents, often causing significant impairments in social and academic functioning with a broad pattern of fear and avoidance. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for SAD with more than 20 randomized controlled trials. Specifically, the present case study utilized the C.A.T. Project (adolescent version of Coping Cat), which is a widely studied and commonly used treatment for youth anxiety disorders. Treatment consisted of 22 sessions over 11 months with a 14-year-old Caucasian female with outcome data demonstrating some significant reductions in anxiety. However, the client terminated prior to finishing the C.A.T. Project manual. As such, this case study emphasizes complicating factors, potential benefits and drawbacks of manual modifications, and resulting treatment implications for clinician consideration.