The Development of a Treatment Protocol by Consciousness Raising Based on the Activation of Islamic-Spiritual Schemas and Comparing Its Effectiveness with the Process-Experiential /Emotion-Focused Therapy on Decreasing the Social Anxiety of University Students

The present research aims to develop a treatment protocol by conscious raising based on the activation of the Islamic-spiritual schemas and compare its effectiveness with the process-experiential/emotion-focused therapy on decreasing the social anxiety of female students of Allameh Tabataba’i University. The sample population included 45 female students of the semi-attendance college, who were randomly divided into experiment 1, experiment 2, and control groups, each consisting of 15 subjects. The experiment groups separately received therapeutic interventions in 8 sessions. The research instrument was the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI). The data were analyzed using covariance analysis and post-test. The results confirmed the first research hypothesis with the probability of 99%. The first hypothesis stated that consciousness raising based on the activation of the Islamic-spiritual schemas was effective on decreasing the social anxiety of female students. Moreover, the results showed that the process-experiential/emotion-focused therapy was effective in decreasing the social anxiety of the female university students. Thus, the second hypothesis was also confirmed with the probability of 99%. The third hypothesis, which predicted a significant difference between the effectiveness of the treatment protocol by consciousness raising based on the activation of the Islamic-spiritual schemas and the process-experiential/emotion-focused therapy on decreasing the social anxiety of female students was confirmed with the probability of 99%.Keywords: