Brief cognitive behavioral group therapy for social anxiety disorder Original Research Article

The growth of managed health care in the United States has placed a high premium on the goal of efficiency in the treatment of psychopathology, but without sacrificing treatment efficacy in the process. A preliminary evaluation of a brief, 6-week version of cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for generalized social anxiety disorder was conducted. Various self-report and behavioral assessment measures were collected at pre- and posttreatment, and self-report assessments were again conducted at 6- and 12-week follow-ups. The results suggest improvement during the acute 6-week treatment phase, and further improvement during the 6 weeks following treatment termination. These gains were maintained at the 3-month follow-up assessment. Effect size comparisons with prior studies revealed that the present treatment produced comparable treatment gains at the 6-week follow-up assessment to those produced by prior studies using the standard 12-week CBGT protocol. Clinical and research implications are discussed.