Attention Training Experiment

Self-consciousness refers to a tendency to direct attention inwards (Fenigstein et al., 1975), and appears to be a shared experience in several emotional disorders, most notably in social anxiety disorder (Stein, 2015). Closely related to self-consciousness is self-focused attention (SFA): a transdiagnostic cognitive process involving selective attention to self-referent information, including thoughts, feelings, memories, and bodily sensations, rather than external stimuli (Harvey et al., 2004; Ingram, 1990).

While self-consciousness and SFA are not always pathological, Ingram (1990) suggests that SFA becomes maladaptive when it results in ‘self-absorption’: an excessive, sustained, and inflexible attention to internal states. In other words, SFA is problematic when it is rigid and cannot shift according to situational demands (Mor & Winquist, 2002). Furthermore, SFA is often habitual and automatic (Warnock-Parkes, 2020).

According to the Clark and Wells (1995) cognitive model of social anxiety, SFA is a key maintenance process in this disorder. Social situations cause socially

“People with social anxiety often feel self-conscious in social situations. Do you feel that way sometimes? One of the reasons why people feel so self-conscious is because they become self-focused. They pay close attention to how they are feeling, how they are performing, and how they appear in social situations, and pay much less attention to what’s going on in the world around them. Unfortunately, self-focused attention can make social anxiety worse.

I’d like to spend this session doing some attention training with you. It involves us doing some exercises where we practice shifting your attention. Training your attention can help you feel less anxious in social situations and find out how you really come across to others. You could think of it as going to the ‘attention gym’. Do you think it could be useful to work through these exercises together?”

Attention training involves the client absorbing themselves in a series

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• Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. R., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522–527. doi:10.1037/h0076760.
• Harvey, A., Watkins, E., Mansell, W., & Shafran, R. (2004). Cognitive behavioural processes across psychological disorders: A transdiagnostic approach to research and treatment. Oxford University Press.
• Hoffmann, S. G. (2000). Self-focused attention before and after treatment of social phobia. Behavior Research and Therapy, 38, 1123-1132. DOI: 10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00105-9.
• Hope, D. A.,