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Updated: May 16, 2026

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
Sudden gains in cognitive therapy and interpersonal therapy for social anxiety disorder
Christiane Bohn1, Idan M Aderka, Franziska Schreiber
1Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Germany. bohn@psych.uni-frankfurt.de
Objective:
The present study examined the effects of sudden gains on treatment outcome in a randomized controlled trial including individual cognitive therapy (CT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Method:
Participants were 67 individuals with SAD who received 16 treatment sessions. Symptom severity at each session was assessed using the Social Phobia Weekly Summary Scale (Clark et al., 2003).
Results:
Results indicate that 22.4% of participants experienced a sudden gain during treatment. Individuals with sudden gains had significantly lower social anxiety symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up compared to individuals without sudden gains. Sudden gains in CT and IPT had similar magnitudes, frequencies, and timings. However, sudden gains resulted in lower levels of post-treatment symptoms in CT compared to IPT. Cognitive changes did not precede sudden gains, but sudden gains resulted in cognitive changes.
Conclusions:
Sudden gains in CT and IPT for SAD are predictive of long-term outcome. In addition, the effect of sudden gains may be greater in CT compared to IPT.
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