The treatment of social phobia: the differential effectiveness of exposure in vivo and an integration of exposure in vivo, rational emotive therapy and social skills training.

Thirty-four social phobic patients were treated with either exposure in vivo or an integrated treatment, consisting of rational emotive therapy, social skills training and exposure in vivo. Comparison with a waiting-list control group showed the effectiveness of both treatments. Contrary to expectations, the integrated approach was not superior over exposure in vivo alone. Also, the long-term effectiveness of both treatments was equally good.