Confronting Your Fears Through Exposure
159treatments have been found to be effective for treating certain types of anxiety prob -
lems, as well as for preventing depression from returning in people who have recently 
overcome an episode of depression (Eifert and Forsyth 2005; Orsillo and Roemer 2005; 
Williams et al. 2007). Learning to accept your uncomfortable feelings rather than ﬁght 
them will ultimately help you to feel more comfortable in the situations you fear.
Eliminate Subtle Avoidance Behaviors
As discussed earlier in this chapter, it is important that you stop the subtle avoidance 
strategies you use to feel safer in social and performance situations. For example, if you 
tend to sit on your hands so people won’t notice them shaking, try letting your hands 
show. If you avoid talking about yourself when conversing with others, purposely try to 
talk about your own interests and opinions. For example, mention a book that you’ve 
recently read or a movie that you’ve seen, and share your opinions. If it’s a best seller 
or a big hit, and you liked it, try to convey your enthusiasm to the person with whom 
you’re talking; if you didn’t like it, don’t hide your opinion. Express yourself and take a 
chance on engaging in an exciting dialogue.
Eliminating safety behaviors such as overpreparing for presentations, drinking 
alcohol at parties, and wearing makeup to hide blushing will help you to learn that social 
situations can be managed, even without using these strategies and behaviors.
Ending a Practice and Moving On to the Next One
Ideally, an exposure practice should not end before your fear has decreased to a mild