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Safety behaviour: a reconsideration.

S Rachman1, Adam S Radomsky, Roz Shafran

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada. rachman@interchange.ubc.ca

Behaviour Research and Therapy
|January 18, 2008
PubMed
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Safety behavior, often deemed counterproductive in therapy, may actually aid treatment progress when used judiciously, especially early on. This approach can facilitate fear reduction and enhance therapeutic outcomes for anxiety disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychotherapy Research
  • Anxiety Disorders Treatment

Background:

  • Safety behavior is commonly viewed as detrimental to therapeutic progress, particularly in exposure therapy.
  • The prevailing assertion is that safety behavior is inherently anti-therapeutic, hindering treatment efficacy.
  • Existing therapeutic models often advocate for the complete elimination of safety behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the unqualified rejection of safety behavior in therapeutic contexts.
  • To explore the potential facilitative role of judiciously applied safety behavior in therapy.
  • To investigate the impact of safety behavior on fear reduction and disconfirmatory experiences.

Main Methods:

  • Review of experimental studies examining escape behavior and safety gear in fear reduction.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of theoretical justifications for the use of safety behavior in early treatment stages.
  • Consideration of clinical observations regarding the application of safety behavior.

    • Main Results:

    • Experimental evidence suggests that certain safety behaviors (e.g., safety gear) can facilitate fear reduction.
    • Escape behavior has been observed to aid in the reduction of fear.
    • Safety behavior does not invariably prevent individuals from having disconfirmatory experiences during therapy.

    Conclusions:

    • The blanket rejection of safety behavior in therapy may be unwarranted.
    • Judicious use of safety behavior, particularly in initial treatment phases, can be therapeutically beneficial.
    • Further research into the nuanced application of safety behavior is needed to optimize treatments for anxiety and related disorders.