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The authors of this study chose to observe, at five sites throughout Germany, the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy as a treatment for people diagnosed with social anxiety disorder as compared to their receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or no treatment at all. The study was performed between 2007 and 2009; results of the study immediately after completion of treatment were first published last year (Leichsenring et al. 2013). This 2014 paper examines the long-term outcomes of the study following completion of treatment at 6, 12, and 24 months.
An interesting aspect of this study is the attempt to manualize and define psychodynamic psychotherapy. CBT was administered using Clark and Wells's manualized treatment for social phobia (Clark and Wells 1995; Wells 1997). Aware that no manualized form of psychodynamic psychotherapy exists, the researchers defined the therapy by adapting Luborsky's manualized supportive-expressive therapy for social phobia (1984), a treatment not previously studied. Establishing a secure helping alliance and elaborating a core conflictual relationship theme related to the symptoms of anxiety are central features of this treatment. Both treatments were “dosed” in twenty-five individual sessions of fifty minutes each. Because CBT allows for double sessions, those in the psychodynamic arm of the study were allowed twice-weekly sessions during the middle part of the treatment (sessions 7 to 16); the authors note that this was done to match CBT in terms of session minutes, and not necessarily to reflect the impact of session frequency on transference.
In all, 1,450 patients were screened, 495 of whom met the study's inclusion criteria. Patients were excluded if they had psychotic or acute