Comparison of the Effectiveness of Gestalt Group Therapy and Psychodrama Therapy on Cognitive Flexibility of Female students in Para-Medical with Social Anxiety Disorder at Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Background: Social anxiety has long been related to reduced cognitive flexibility, and this feature is seen as a factor of social anxiety disorder. The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive flexibility among patients with social anxiety disorder with two methods of gestalt therapy and psychodrama among female para-medical students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in ۲۰۲۰-۲۰۲۱.Methods: The current research was a quasi-experimental type using a pre-test-post-test design with two experimental groups and a control group along with a follow-up test period. The statistical population of the present study consists of female paramedical students from Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran in the second quarter of the academic year ۲۰۲۰-۲۰۲۱. Results: The results of the analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up scores of the cognitive flexibility component in the three phases of the pre-test, post-test, and treatment follow-up (P <۰.۰۵). Conclusion: In general, from the findings obtained in this research, it can be concluded that psychodrama therapy is a multidimensional therapy that affects not only the person and his emotions but also his environment and interpersonal relationships, affecting all these dimensions significantly improves the overall level of a person's health.

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Keywords: Gestalt group therapy , Psychodrama therapy , Cognitive flexibility , Social anxiety disorder