| Abstract: | Over the past years, important advances in the cognitive–behavioral treatment of social phobia have taken place. There is wide evidence that demonstrates exposure is an effective treatment for social phobia. However, some research has noticed that exposure has limitations in treating this disorder. In clinical practice we find patients who do not achieve marked reductions in anxiety using this technique. One of the mechanisms that can be involved is the use of in‐situation safety behaviors, which patients use to prevent the feared consequences in social situations. The aim of this study is to present a single case study where we compare the improvement achieved using exposure alone versus exposure dropping in‐situation safety behaviors. The social phobic patient improved significantly when exposure was combined with the drop of in‐situation safety behaviors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
