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Impact of Social Anxiety in a “Therapeutic Community”‐Oriented Cocaine Treatment Clinic
Author(s) -
Egelko Susan,
Galanter Marc
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.1998.tb00328.x
Subject(s) - social anxiety , anxiety , distress , therapeutic community , psychology , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medicine
The authors assessed social‐evaluative anxiety in 50 cocaine abusers attending an outpatient therapeutic‐community (TC)‐oriented clinic. This group‐based modality presumes that the ability of clients to self‐disclose is key to recovery. Fully half of the clients tested, some of whom had been attending treatment for a number of months, showed an elevation of social withdrawal and distress. Newcomers with higher social anxiety scores were less likely to drop out of treatment over the first 3 months, and self‐reported level of social anxiety decreased over this time interval. These findings suggest that social anxiety may be an important consideration in treatment for cocaine abuse and that the rigors of a modified TC with intense focus on group involvement may reduce social anxiety. (Am J Addict 1998; 7:136–141)