Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy offer effective psychological treatment alternatives for many of the anxiety disorders

Ougrin (2011) reveals that several studies have found out that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is more effective in treating social anxiety disorder compared to Exposure Therapy (ET). Researchers argue that the nature of social anxiety makes CBT more important in treating it; that behavioral experiments are more effective in reducing social anxiety compared to exposure single-handedly. The exposure approach of treating social anxiety has limited efficacy if it does not involve skills-based behavioral responses. Also, exposure therapy is not as effective as CBT regarding treating social anxiety because of its duration of exposure is not adequate because most social encounters have limited duration. CBT approach is derived from diverse techniques that help achieve therapeutic change; some of these techniques have been proven to be more effective than exposure alone. For example, the negative impacts of self-focused attention, imagery work, and video feedback have been proven by research to be more effective than exposure alone.

Reference

Ougrin, D. (2011). Efficacy of exposure versus cognitive therapy in anxiety disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC psychiatry, 11(1), 1-13.