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.