self, “I must fall asleep!” Often, the more you try to sleep, the harder it becomes. In fact, 
for some people who have trouble sleeping, trying to stay awake is a productive strategy. 
As soon as they stop trying  to sleep, they fall asleep quite quickly.
When you can allow yourself to become anxious without ﬁghting the feelings, even -
tually you will become much more comfortable in social and performance situations. 
This sounds contradictory, but it really works this way. Instead of ﬁghting your feelings, 
just let them happen. Instead of evaluating your experiences (for example, “sweating in 
front of others is unacceptable”), accept them. When practicing exposure, you should 
observe your responses and experiences without evaluating them. Your fear will likely 
pass more quickly if you are not trying so hard to get rid of it. Remember, the worst 
thing that can happen is that you will feel uncomfortable for a while. Being anxious is 
not dangerous, and anxiety always passes.
As reviewed in chapter 4, variations of cognitive behavioral therapy have recently 
been developed that emphasize the importance of accepting one’s experiences rather 
than trying to change them. Examples include mindfulness meditation and a form of psy -
chotherapy called acceptance and commitment therapy (Hayes and Smith 2005).  These