Treating social phobia in children through group narrative therapy

This study explored the effectiveness of group narrative therapy in treating the symptoms of social phobia among boys. Twenty-four boys, aged 10–11 with a confirmed diagnosis of social phobia were randomly assigned to receive treatment (N = 12) or placed on a waiting list (N = 12) considered as a control group. The treatment group received fourteen 90-min sessions of narrative therapy twice a week. Results showed significant differences in the symptom scores for the intervention and waiting list groups. Assessment by parents and teachers showed that the group narrative therapy had a significant effect on reducing symptoms of social phobia among participants in the treatment group both at home and school settings one week after completion of treatment and sustained after thirty days.