“…Although research shows that safety behaviors do have the potential to be counter-productive if they promote a misattribution of safety, or interfere with the development of self-efficacy or other mechanisms of emotional processing during exposure practices (Parrish, Radomsky, & Dugas, 2008), there is evidence that these strategies are not always detrimental to treatment outcome. In fact, some researchers (e.g., Deacon, Sy, Lickel, & Nelson, 2010) have found no reliable benefits or drawbacks associated with the judicious use of safety behaviors in exposure therapy, while others (e.g., Milosevic & Radomsky, 2008;Rachman, Radomsky, & Shafran, 2008;Rachman, Shafran, Radomsky, & Zysk, 2011;Sy, Dixon, Lickel, Nelson, & Deacon, 2011) have found that the judicious use of safety behaviors during graduated exposure exercises may present advantages over traditional exposure-based treatments by allowing clients to: (a) approach their feared situation more rapidly; and (b) stay in that situation for a longer period of time relative to those individuals who are told to drop their use of safety behaviors -both of which may serve to enhance the exposure practice rather than interfere with it. For example, research suggests that safety behaviors that focus on impression management (e.g., behavioral rehearsal, feigning friendly behavior towards others) rather than avoidance (e.g., avoiding eye contact, not speaking) are not typically associated with negative perceptions by others in a social context (Hirsch, Meynen, & Clark, 2004).…”