RESEARCH_FILE
David M. Clark
University of Oxford
Known for:The cognitive model of social anxiety and the cognitive therapy built on it, tested in randomized controlled trials
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Everyone will see me shake”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The shake is loud only to me; they get the words.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Observe someone else's hands while they talk for two minutes—at a meeting, on a video call, or in conversation. Count how many hand movements they make. Try to spot tremor. Notice what you actually detect versus what they might feel.
Key findings
- 1995
With Adrian Wells, proposed that social anxiety is maintained by self-focused attention, distorted self-imagery, safety behaviors, and pre/post-event processing — not by objectively poor performance. A cognitive model of social phobia (in Heimberg et al., Social Phobia) ↗
- 2003
In a randomized trial, cognitive therapy targeting these maintenance processes outperformed fluoxetine plus self-exposure for generalized social phobia. Cognitive therapy versus fluoxetine in generalized social phobia: a randomized placebo-controlled trial ↗
- 2006
Cognitive therapy for social phobia — dropping safety behaviors, shifting attention outward, video feedback — beat exposure plus applied relaxation in a head-to-head randomized trial. Cognitive therapy versus exposure and applied relaxation in social phobia: a randomized controlled trial ↗