The rapid development of modern society might be too stressful for a variety of people, producing such uncomfortable conditions as social anxiety disorder. According to Leigh and Clark (2018), social anxiety disorder is characterized by a persistent and severe dread of being demeaned or scrutinized by others. Moreover, data on age at diagnosis suggest that after adolescence, a person’s social circle becomes crucially influential and determines the integration of an individual with society (Leigh & Clark, 2018). As a result, adolescent social anxiety is accompanied by significant impairment that lasts into the adult years. Providing therapeutic methods during adulthood has clear advantages and is required for an individual’s well-being. Social phobia cognitive approaches have been created; as such, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most functional and results-oriented methods for curing social anxiety (Kennerley et al., 2017). CBT is a short-term, evidence-based therapeutic strategy for a variety of mental health issues, including social anxiety disorder. Several strategies present in the CBT methodology could be discussed, although the most effective method for the adult population seems to be exposure therapy.
There are some CBT models of social phobia worth consideration when discussing the current techniques of treatment. As such, one of the typical preconceptions and assumptions of socially anxious individuals is that they will be judged negatively and will not be able to cope (Kennerley et al., 2017). Next, the cycle of social phobia is pushed by acute self-awareness, which could also emerge as self-referent depictions. This increased self-consciousness is disorientating and, as a result, obstructing because it makes it impossible to properly assess circumstances and engage in constructive problem-solving (Kennerley et al., 2017). Moreover, the severe contemplation about perceived stress makes the person suffering painfully aware of signs such as trembling and stammering. Finally, the socially anxious individual would therefore try to eliminate personal interaction to avoid potential embarrassment or awkwardness (Kennerley et al., 2017). Thus, CBT describes the phenomenon of social anxiety in a thorough way that can lead to the development of possible treatments.
CBT treatment strategies for clients experiencing social anxiety are multiple. Namely, switching attention away from self-reflection entails shifting attention between sensorial information sources. To empower patients to recognize themselves in an emotional and accepting manner, one can develop a proactive or caring inner voice to counteract the negative criticism that people with the condition anticipate from others. Re-evaluation of thought patterns related to the perceived social threat and emotional justification is also a beneficial technique (Kennerley et al., 2017). However, one of the most relevant and important treatments for social anxiety for adult people is exposure therapy.
Exposure therapy practice has changed over the years in tandem with transitions in the hypotheses that are used to demonstrate why and how it is beneficial. In the 1960s, alongside the advent of behavioral psychology, Joseph Wolpe started promoting systematic desensitization as a therapy for fears and other forms of anxiety (Vinograd & Craske, 2020). According to his theory, the procedure’s effectiveness depended on picturing the frightening stimuli while being in a relaxed state. As systematic desensitization became less popular, the habituation model emerged as the main method of exposure treatment. Finally, practitioners of the inhibitory learning approach have proposed a variety of ways to improve exposure treatment in order to lessen the chance of fear resurfacing (Vinograd & Craske, 2020). Hence, the sum of these ideas has founded the modern exposure method that refined ineffective practices and left the most beneficial ones.
The model of exposure treatment can be realized with a variety of techniques. For example, Narrative Exposure Treatment is an exposure-based therapy that has demonstrated promising outcomes in treating persons afflicted by multiple trauma in diverse cultures and displaying long-term benefits (Siehl et al., 2020). The treatment employs a net safety method in which the patient’s life story is told in chronological sequence through several exposure sessions on traumatic incidents. Next, the therapeutic alliance may be suggested as a subdivision of the exposure method. Namely, it is a coalition formed by the patient’s commitment and the therapist’s delivery of suitable therapeutic approaches (Buchholz & Abramowitz, 2020). Thus, the technique includes components that could be chosen by a therapist for a specific patient’s condition and identity.
The appropriateness of the treatment for the adult population is defined by its focus on the commitment of the patient. Although exposure practice is typically done with the help of a psychologist as part of a cognitive-behavioral therapy program, it may also be done in one’s everyday life. Hence, the procedure supposes that an individual that undergoes it perceives its usefulness and is sufficiently independent to practice it on their own.
To conclude, social anxiety disorder is an important issue that interrupts the daily lives of various individuals and could be treated via the methods of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One such technique includes the exposure approach, which has a long history of research and, as a result, theoretical and practical background. The exposure treatment might be the most appropriate for adults because of its time-spending nature, as well as an option for autonomous practice.
References
Buchholz, J. L., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2020). The therapeutic alliance in exposure therapy for anxiety-related disorders: A critical review. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 70.
Kennerley, H., Kirk, J., & Westbrook, D. (2017). An introduction to cognitive behavior therapy: Skills and applications (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
Leigh, E., & Clark, D. M. (2018). Understanding social anxiety disorder in adolescents and improving treatment outcomes: Applying the cognitive model of Clark and Wells (1995). Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(3), 388–414.
Siehl, S., Robjant, K., & Crombach, A. (2020). Systematic review and meta-analyses of the long-term efficacy of narrative exposure therapy for adults, children and perpetrators. Psychotherapy Research, 31(6), 695–710.
Vinograd, M., & Craske, M. G. (2020). History and theoretical underpinnings of exposure therapy. Exposure Therapy for Children with Anxiety and OCD, 3–20.