Integrative therapy (short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy & cognitive-behavioral therapy) and cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Background: and purpose: Cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy are common psychotherapies used for mental disorders. The purpose of the present article was to achieve an integration of cognitive-behavioral therapy and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy that enjoys simultaneously the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapies and the stability of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies.

Materials and methods: It was a pre-test/post-test experimental study. Selected based on a purposive non-probabilistic sampling method, the sample studied here consisted of 36 people diagnosed with generalized anxiety according to Clinical Diagnostic Interview, psychiatrist diagnosis and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA). They were divided randomly into three 12 person groups: two treated groups by integrative therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, and one control group. Only pre-test and post-test were employed for the control group without any kind of treatment. To select patients and evaluate the effects of each type of treatments, the "Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety" and "Beck Depression Inventory" were applied for the pre-test/post-test and the differential diagnosis, respectively. The results obtained were analyzed by covariance and ANOVA analyses using SPSS software.

Results: The results of the study indicate the efficacy of both cognitive-behavioral therapy and integrative therapy in the treatment of generalized anxiety and integrative therapy was more effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety compared to cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Conclusion: Integrative treatment not only to be effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder and the reduction of its symptoms, but also to be more effective than cognitive-behavioral therapy.