Evaluation
“All the information contained in this section is for guidance only. Psious environments are therapy supporting tools that must be used by the healthcare professional within an evaluation and intervention process designed according to the characteristics and needs of the user.
Also remember that you have the General Clinical Guide in which you have more information on how to adapt psychological intervention techniques (exposure, systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, chip economy…) to Psious environments.”
Evaluation fear of public speaking
Objectives of evaluation
- To evaluate the presence and comorbidity of other emotional disorders, especially social phobia, anxiety disorders or other phobias
- To evaluate anxiety associated with components: speaking in front of an audience, whether in a formal way (such as an oral presentation in an academic environment) or more informal (such as making a toast at a birthday party), being the centre of attention in a social situation, receiving a potential negative evaluation from an audience.
- To define configurations of stimulated fears by the patient and in what degree. Creation of hierarchy of exposure.
- To evaluate the presence of distorted thoughts: being embarrassed in a social situation, being criticised for everything they say, not being capable of coordinating their thoughts, not knowing how to behave themselves in an appropriate way…
Some useful instruments for the evaluation of fear of public speaking
Bearing in mind the objectives for evaluation we will list some tools and instruments that can be useful for obtaining information relevant to the characteristics of your user. Remember that a good definition of objectives, characterisation of the patient and plan for intervention are important for therapeutic efficiency and efficacy, as well as for the satisfaction of your patients. In the bibliography, you will find articles in which the characteristics of the instruments proposed are reviewed below.
- Open or semi-structured interview
- Structured interview: Interview for Anxiety Disorders according to the DSM-IV
- Observation and self-observation (with self-report):
- Behavioural approximation test live and/or through virtual reality
- List of Appropriate Behaviours at the Beginning and End of a Talk
- Scale of Qualification of Social Performance
SELF-REPORTS
- State Speech Anxiety Inventory (SSAI)
- Self-Statement During Public Speaking Scale (SSPSS)
- Speech Anxiety Thoughts Inventory (SATI)
- Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS)
- Psious self-reports for the creation of the hierarchy
Creation of the hierarchy of exposure to Psious’s environments
Once we have the information from the evaluation we can proceed to create the hierarchy of exposure. For this, as well as using the data obtained through the initial assessment, we can ask a series of questions (e.g. What level of discomfort, on a scale of 0 to 100, does holding a conversation with a group of four people give you? What level of discomfort, on a scale of 0 to 100, does having to make an oral presentation for 10 minutes give you?, Do you think that there is something that could make you feel even more discomfort?…) directed at planning the intervention through virtual reality.
Below there is a series of items that can be used to create a suitable hierarchy for treating fear of public speaking with Psious. It must be borne in mind that we might be able to ask the patient about the anxiety that these items create, and after that, start grading the different elements of the hierarchy.
- Being in an auditorium alone preparing for a presentation that will be given in a few minutes (environment of fear of public speaking, auditorium).
- Having a job interview (environment of fear of public speaking, office).
- Presenting a new project to a small group of work colleagues (environment of fear of public speaking, office).
- Giving a talk that will be broadcast on television and seeing that the audience is listening attentively (environment of fear of public speaking, Broadcast conference).
- Giving a talk in an auditorium full of people (environment of fear of public speaking, auditorium).
- To be giving a conference and hear laughter from the audience (environment of fear of public speaking, audience).
- In a work meeting a colleague makes a critical remark to you (environment of fear of public speaking, office).