tive weeks. So, try to schedule practices as frequently as possible. We recommend that 
you set aside at least an hour to practice exposure on most days. Once your fear has 
begun to decrease considerably, it is a good idea to gradually spread out the practices 
to every few weeks or even to every few months, depending on the situation and how 
often it arises in your day-to-day life. Occasional practices will help to maintain the 
 improvements you have made in decreasing your fear.
Practice in a Variety of Situations
To some extent, working on decreasing your fear in a particular social or performance 
situation will help you to feel more comfortable in other social situations as well. This 
process is called generalization , and research has shown that generalization often occurs 
as a result of exposure. For example, if you learn to feel comfortable asking questions 
in class, some of that success may “spread,” or generalize, to other situations, making it 
easier for you to speak up at meetings at work. However, generalization will not cause 
your success to spread to every situation you fear. Therefore, to get the most out of