Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy versus Group Hypnotherapy on Brain/Behavioral Systems of Social Phobia Patients

Background & Objective:  Social anxiety disorder, which involves excessive anxiety of social situation due to fear of negative evaluation, is a debilitating disorder that leads to social dysfunction. The purpose of this study is to investigate Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) versus Group Hypnotherapy (GHT) on Brain/Behavioral Systems of Social Phobia Patients.  Materials & Methods:  Thirty subjects were included in this study and divided into two groups receiving either CBGT or GHT. The questionnaires of brain/behavioral systems (GWPQ) and social phobia (SPIN) were administered in two phases (before and after intervention). Results:  Both therapy approaches caused significant changes in the level of social phobia and brain/behavioral systems activity. The alterations in brain-behavioral subsystems (BIS and FFFS) in the Extinction and Flight components were in favor of hypnotherapy (P<0.05). Conclusion:  The findings from the present research provide evidence that altering brain/behavioral systems associated with the social phobia hypnotherapy can be considered as a powerful approach treating social phobia.