The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook
162may cause the fear to go up and down repeatedly over the course of the 
practice, because most people are not very good at distracting them -
selves for long periods.
Negative thinking can sometimes interfere with the effects of exposure. 
If your fear does not decrease during a particular exposure practice, 
challenge your anxious thoughts using the techniques described in 
chapter 6.
If all else fails, just keep practicing. Sometimes it takes repeated expo -
sure practices before a person’s fear begins to lessen.
Problem:  My fear returns between exposure practices.
Solution:   This is normal for most people. With more and more practice, your 
fear will decrease more quickly during practices and will not return as 
intensely between them. One way of preventing your fear from return -
ing between exposures is to increase the frequency of your practices, 
particularly early in treatment.
Problem:   My physical symptoms (for instance, stuttering, shaking, sweating) are 
very noticeable.
Solution:   Remember that, despite how it seems to you, the chances are good that 
your symptoms are not as noticeable to others as you think they are. 
Furthermore, as your anxiety decreases, the intensity of these symp -
toms will likely decrease. If you are concerned about people noticing 
your symptoms, use the cognitive techniques from chapter 6 to chal -
lenge your anxious thinking. Remember that there are lots of people 
who blush, shake, or lose their train of thought and who couldn’t care 
less about what other people think. The problem is not that you experi -
ence these symptoms, but rather your beliefs about the consequences 
of having these symptoms.
Problem:   I am just not good at             (making small talk, 
public speaking, and so on).