Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria

Diagnosis of SP (SCID-I)

Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale >30 (>60 for generalized subtype)

Age 18 to 70 years

SP must be primary diagnosis (most severe disorder according to ADIS-IV)

SP patients with co-morbid disorders will be included, provided that SP is the primary diagnosis, thus ensuring a clinically representative sample as well as analyses of subgroups (for example, type of SP, patients with co-morbid depressive disorder)

Exclusion criteria

Psychotic disorder

Prominent risk of self-harm

Acute substance-related disorders

Personality disorders except for avoidant

Obsessive-compulsive or dependent personality disorder (SCID-II) organic mental disorder

Severe medical conditions

Concurrent psychotherapeutic or psychopharmacological treatment, with the following exception: specific psychopharmacological treatments (that is, tranquilizer, hypnotics, neuroleptics, phytopharmaceuticals, and beta-blockers prescribed as anxiolytics) should be terminated prior to therapy onset

Anti-depressive medication represents no exclusion criterion as long it is reliably and stably consumed