Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) refers to extraordinarily intensive fear and anxiety about one or more social situations, which cause clinically significant distress and lead individuals to persistently avoid from essential social interactions such as meeting unfamiliar people, eating among people, performing in front of people (DSM-5, 2013). SAD’s lifetime prevalence is 12.1% and twelve-month prevalence is 6.8%, which is the third most common mental health disorders in the US (http://www.nimh.nih.gov). Along side of its prevalence, its negative impact on individual’s interpersonal and intrapersonal life is huge. Individuals with SAD are at substantial risk of impairments in social and professional functioning such as, loosing status, isolation, and social rejection (Cain, Pincus and Holtforth, 2010 art7). According to Wong, Gordon, Heimberg (2014), in comparison with other anxiety
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In that manner, group therapies may provide a therapeutic setting to help client learn how to handle with intensive fear and anxiety provoked by social situations. People with SAD can take advantage of group Cognitive-Behavioral psychotherapy supported with skill training and relaxation techniques by identifying and altering their maladaptive beliefs. According to Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming and Simon (2004), group therapy is the most efficient way to deal with SAD. Since, in the group settings, wide array of techniques, which include role-playing and Ellis’s shame attack, can be used to prepare people to problematic situations and reveal emotional reactions. Moreover, group provides an area to group members to test their social skills gained through group process. On the other hand, it will be hard to participate in a group setting for people who have severe fear of social interactions. This problem can be dealt with sensitive member selection process, which will be explained
In that manner, group therapies may provide a therapeutic setting to help client learn how to handle with intensive fear and anxiety provoked by social situations. People with SAD can take advantage of group Cognitive-Behavioral psychotherapy supported with skill training and relaxation techniques by identifying and altering their maladaptive beliefs. According to Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming and Simon (2004), group therapy is the most efficient way to deal with SAD. Since, in the group settings, wide array of techniques, which include role-playing and Ellis’s shame attack, can be used to prepare people to problematic situations and reveal emotional reactions. Moreover, group provides an area to group members to test their social skills gained through group process. On the other hand, it will be hard to participate in a group setting for people who have severe fear of social interactions. This problem can be dealt with sensitive member selection process, which will be explained