Group Treatment for Social Phobia

What is Shyness and Social Anxiety?

• Shyness is a normally occurring personality style or temperament.
• Social anxiety, which is also a normal human emotion, is the discomfort or inhibition we feel in situations or activities where a person may be the focus of attention or evaluation.
• Typically, shyness and social anxiety cause little problem for most children and adolescents.
• Some youth, however, experience more troublesome levels of social anxiety that can result in fear and avoidance of social and evaluative situations.

Why does social anxiety increase in adolescence?

• Adolescence is known as a time of increased social anxiety and self-consciousness.
• During adolescence, thinking changes to understand and consider other peoples’ perspectives. This can increase self-consciousness and anxiety, especially for youth who worry about what others think of them.
• Peer group approval becomes more important.
• At the same time, the demands for independent functioning in school and daily life increase for the teenager.
• Greater amounts of responsibility are placed on the adolescent, as their academic demands increase and they are expected to fend more for themselves in school and social settings.

When does social anxiety become a problem?

• It is normal and expected that teenagers will worry to some extent about being included by peers, how they look to other people, and whether they are accepted and viewed as competent in things like school or sports.
• Some teenagers, however, are vulnerable to experiencing higher levels of social anxiety and more intense shyness than “the average.”
• For these adolescents, the anxiety is experienced as much more intense or occurs much more frequently than it does in the typical adolescent.
• When social anxiety or shyness is “too much” for any given adolescent, problems may develop in self-esteem and confidence, with social relationships, school functioning, and/or with family relationships.

Does your adolescent fear or avoid:

• Calling or inviting a friend to get together
• Initiating or starting conversations
• Oral presentations, taking exams or quizzes
• Calling a classmate for homework
• Asking the teacher for help or to explain something
• Unstructured social situations (e.g., free time, recess)
• Gym class, music lessons, other performance situations
• Dating
• Attending social events such as dances, parties, sporting events
• Ordering food in public or eating in the cafeteria and restaurants
• Answering the telephone or doorbell
• Job or college interviews
• Sticking up for him or herself or asking for assistance (assertiveness)

If you answered yes to several of these questions, your son or daughter may be suffering from too much social anxiety .

 If you would like to refer an adolescent to the program or have any questions, please call our intake coordinator:  

Dr. Joanna Robin at 212 -246-5747

Currently we are offering:

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Adolescents (CBGT-A)

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Adults (CBGT-YA)

 

For More Information

Key References:

* Albano, A.M., Marten, P.A., Holt, C.S., Heimberg, R.G., & Barlow, D.H. (1995). Cognitive-behavioral group treatment for social phobia in adolescents: A preliminary study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 183, 685-692.

* Albano, A.M. (1995). Treatment of social anxiety in adolescents. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 2, 271-298.

* Albano, A.M., DiBartolo, P.M., Heimberg, R.G., & Barlow, D.H. (1995). Children and adolescents: Assessment and treatment. In R.G. Heimberg, M. Liebowitz, D. Hope, & F. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment (pp. 387-425). New York: Guilford Press.

Chapters in Books:

Albano , A.M., & Barlow, D.H. (1996). Breaking the vicious cycle: Cognitive behavioral group treatment for adolescent social phobia. In E.D. Hibbs & P. Jensen (Eds.), Psychosocial Treatment Research of Child and Adolescent Disorders: Empirically based approaches (pp. 43-62). Washington, D.C., American Psychological Association Press.

Albano , A.M., & DiBartolo, P.M. (1997). Cognitive behavioral treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder and social phobia in children and adolescents. In L. VandeCreek (Ed.), Innovations in clinical practice: A source book (Vol. 15) (pp. 41-58). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.

Albano , A.M., Detweiler, M.F., & Logsdon-Conradsen, S. (1999). Cognitive behavioral interventions with socially phobic children. In S.W. Russ & T.H. Ollendick (Eds.), Handbook of Psychotherapies with Children and Families (pp. 255-280). New York: Plenum Press.

Albano , A.M. (January/February 2000). Social phobia in children and adolescents. In H.S. Koplewicz (Ed.), Child Study Center Letter. New York University School of Medicine.

Albano , A.M. (2000) Treatment of social phobia in adolescents: cognitive behavioral programs focused on intervention and prevention. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 14, 67-76.

Albano , A.M., & Detweiler, M.F. (2001). The developmental and clinical impact of social anxiety and social phobia in children and adolescents. In S.G. Hofmann & P.M. DiBartolo (Eds.), Social phobia and social anxiety: An integration (pp. 162-178). New York: Plenum Press.

Albano , A.M. (2003). Treatment of social anxiety in adolescents. In M. Reinecke, F. Datillo, & A. Freeman (Eds.), Casebook of cognitive behavioral therapy with children and adolescents (2 nd ed.) (pp. 128-161). New York: Guilford Press.

Albano, A.M., & Hayward, C. (2004). The developmental psychopathology approach to understanding and treating social anxiety disorder. In T.H. Ollendick and J.S. March (Eds), Phobic and Anxiety Disorders: A Clinician’s Guide to Effective Psychosocial and Pharmacological Interventions (pp. 198-235). Oxford University Press.

Research Studies on CBGT-A:

Hayward , C., Varady, S., Albano, A.M., Thieneman, M., Henderson, L., & Schatzberg, A.F. (2000). Cognitive behavioral group therapy for female socially phobic adolescents: Results of a pilot study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,39, 721-726.

Garcia-Lopez, L.J., Olivares, J., Turner, S.M., Albano, Beidel, D.C., A.M., & Sanchez-Meca, J. (2002). Results at long-term among three psychological treatments for adolescents with generalized social phobia (II): Clinical significance and effect size. Psicologia Conductual, 10 , 371-385.

Olivares, J., Garcia-Lopez, L.J., Beidel, D.C., Turner, S.M., Albano, A.M., & Hidalgo, M. (2002). Results at long-term among three psychological treatments for adolescents with generalized social phobia (I): Statistical significance. Psicologia Conductual, 10, 147-164.

Critical Review of Social Anxiety in Youth:

Velting, O.N., & Albano, A.M. (2001). Current trends in the understanding and treatment of social phobia in youth. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42, 127-140.