In a recent review, McGuinn and Newmann (2013) tried to take stock of the current knowledge on thesocial anxietyon the epidemiological incidence and on which treatments they are effective.
There social phobiaas is now known, turns out to be the most widespread anxiety disorder, with a prevalence, in western countries, between 3% and 14%. It seems to be more frequent, albeit not significantly, among women and typically debut during childhood or puberty and rarely after 25 years.
The cognitive behavioral approach has proposed explanatory and treatment models that have demonstrated their effectiveness in various scientific studies, bringing to the conclusion that this treatment model is the most suitable for these patients.
In particular, it seems that cognitive renovation and gradual exposure in vivo have proven to be the most effective intervention techniques for thesocial anxiety.
As known, the standard behavioral cognitive model is characterized to be focused on the here and now and tries to intervene in the present, without giving a fundamental weight to the patient’s anamnesis and how the basic pathogenic beliefs have developed that maintain the social phobia.
However, some studies have shown the limits of the effectiveness of the standard model and suggested the development of new intervention techniques.
For some years now, for example, a vein of research and clinical practice has been particularly attentive to work on mental images (the so -called imagery), how these images are linked to negative episodes that occurred in the past, as well as the possible intervention techniques derived for the social anxiety treatment.
In an article just published on Behavior Research and Therapy entitled “Imagery-ENHANCED cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study”, Mcevoy and Saulsman propose a group therapy model for group therapy forsocial anxiety enhanced by techniques of this type.
The authors, in the introduction of the article, illustrate how the patient’s mind with social phobia It is particularly crowded with negative images on itself and on one’s actions and as these images, in addition to being anxious, appear directly connected to negative and potentially traumatic experiences experienced by the subject during the period of onset of social phobiausually in childhood.
This type of discoveries, supported by a lot of literature by now, has led to the use of techniques that aim at work on mental images, such as Imagory Rescripting, which seem to be very profitable and useful in work with the patient with social phobia And with other ailments.
In their research, therefore, the authors have tested a group therapy protocol enhanced by Imagory-Based techniques to understand if this type of intervention was acceptable and accessible for patients, which type of effect had on symptoms and performance anxiety and if it had greater efficacy than the Standard cognitive therapy for social phobia.
In the article, correctly, the authors illustrate the protocol, describing the agenda of the 12 sessions that make up the treatment.
The results seem to substantially support the initial hypotheses. 95% of the subjects of the experimental group completed the treatment path, showing good results especially with regard to social interaction, less for theperformance anxiety.
The comparison with the standard CBT has shown that the Imagery-Based protocol is significantly higher as regards social interaction, it is slightly higher, but in a non-statistically significant way, as regards performance anxiety.
The study, however, presents some limitations, such as the small number of the sample (n = 19) and the method of comparison between the two protocols: in fact patients with social phobia of the experimental group were compared to patients already treated previously (94 subjects with standard cognitive therapy protocol) at the same clinic.
This is obviously a pilot study, which will need further checks with larger champions, but still seems to trace a promising new way to go, especially for patients with social anxiety Standard CBT resistant.
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