RESEARCH_FILE
Adrian Wells
University of Manchester
Known for:Experimental work on safety behaviors and attention in social phobia, and co-author of the Clark & Wells cognitive model
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Everyone will see me shake”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The shake is loud only to me; they get the words.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Observe someone else's hands while they talk for two minutes—at a meeting, on a video call, or in conversation. Count how many hand movements they make. Try to spot tremor. Notice what you actually detect versus what they might feel.
Key findings
- 1995
Exposure to feared social situations reduced anxiety and catastrophic beliefs significantly more when patients simultaneously dropped their in-situation safety behaviors. Social phobia: The role of in-situation safety behaviors in maintaining anxiety and negative beliefs ↗
- 1998
In a single-case series of eight socially phobic patients, brief exposure combined with an external attention focus outperformed exposure alone at reducing anxiety and belief in feared catastrophes. Social phobia: Effects of external attention on anxiety, negative beliefs, and perspective taking ↗