Behaviorally oriented roleplays in the setting of psycho-dynamically oriented in-patient psychotherapy

Based on a short description of psychodynamic inpatient psychothearapy and behaviorally oriented therapeutic roleplays for the enhancement of social s kills, an evaluation of a time-limited combination of both treatment approa ches is presented. Results indicate that especially patients with high leve ls of social anxiety or a diagnosis of social phobia show clear improvement in measures of social-phobic symptomatology. Problems due to implementatio n of elements of cognitive-behavior therapy in a psychodynamically oriented treatment setting as well as an increase in acceptance of this combination within the therapeutic staff are discussed.