Abstract

Aims and objectives: This study examined the therapists effect in cognitive - behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for social anxiety disorder. Method: The study design was pre-test - post-test in which 24 students with social anxiety disorder were selected and randomly assigned to one control group and two experimental groups. The tools used in this study included the social phobia inventory, the clinical interview and the brief fear of negative evaluation scale. The experimental groups attended 12 treatment sessions based on Heimbergs Model held by two different groups of two therapists. Finally, all participants were re-examined by the aforementioned questionnaires. The data was statistically analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis. Results: The multivariate analysis covariance revealed the effects of cognitive - behavioral group therapy on Social Phobia (p =0.006) and Fear of Negative Evaluation (p=0.001). Also Data analysis suggested that there were no statistically significant differences in the effectiveness of CBT for social anxiety disorder between two experimental groups (P=0.64 for the SPIN and P= 0.51 for the BFNE). discussion: The findings indicated that cognitive-behavioral group therapy based on Heimbergs Model was effective on social anxiety in Iranian sample and different therapists do not play important roles in this intervention.

Keywords: Social anxiety, Cognitive - Behavioral Group Therapy, therapist effect.

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