Systemic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders

Systemic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders With Adults: Manual Development and Randomized-Controled Feasibility Study

Goals of the study:

Systemic Therapy was approved in 2008 by the Scientific Advisory Board on Psychotherapy (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Psychotherapie: WBP) for a variety of disorders which, at the time, did not include anxiety disorders. According to the 2007 joint methods paper of the WBP and the Mutual Federal Committee (Gemeinsamen Bundesausschuss: G-Ba), there must be three randomized-controlled trials (RCT) for anxiety disorders. These studies are available now but lack explicit details about the clinical significance of the reductions they show in social anxiety symptoms. This project is funded by the German Association for Systemic Therapy, Counseling and Family Therapy (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Systemische Therapie, Beratung und Familientherapie: DGSF).

Study design:

The study is planned as a mono-centric, balanced pilot RCT. It investigates the feasibility of an RCT comparing Systemic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders (SAD) in 32 patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Social Anxiety Disorder (SKID: ICD-Diagnosis: F40.1, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale > 30);
• Agreement to participate in the study and to be randomized into the two treatment groups

Exclusion Criteria:

• Acute drug or alcohol intoxication or dependency
• Anorexia with BMI < 14
• Psychotic disorder
• Severe physical diseases