The Effectiveness of Group Schema Therapy on Social Anxiety and Its Specific Symptoms in Blind and Visually Impaired People

Background & objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Group schema therapy on social anxiety and its specific symptoms in blind and visually impaired people. Methods: This study was a semi -experimental study with pre-test, post-test and follow-up test with a control group .For this purpose, the statistical population of study ,included all blind and low-vision people admitted to Isfahan's Ababasir Educational Institute. 26 participants were selected by available sampling and were randomly assigned to the experimental group (13 persons) and the control group (13 persons). The experimental group was trained on 10 sessions (weekly) according to schema therapy in Yang protocol, while control group did not receive any training. Data were collected by self-report method (Social Phobia Inventory) and analyzed using covariance test by SPSS-21 software . Results: Results showed a significant difference between social anxiety in the experimental group, when entering the study, immediately after treatment, and 1 month after treatment; but no significant difference was observed in the control group. Conclusions: One of the useful and effective treatments for refractory, ambiguous and longterm disorders that have their roots in childhood is Yang's scheme therapy and also, group therapy is one of the most important factors in the effectiveness of this treatment model in the present study.