Safety Behaviours vs Coping Strategies – Do You Really Know the Difference?
A three-hour masterclass designed to ensure participants develop a clear and clinically meaningful understanding of the distinction between safety behaviours and coping strategies, along with their respective therapeutic implications.
Safety behaviours are widely recognised as playing a key role in the maintenance of psychological difficulties. They facilitate avoidance and prevent the disconfirmation of unhelpful beliefs, thereby reinforcing the very fears they are intended to mitigate.
For example:
- A socially anxious client who fears rejection due to anticipated blushing and refuses to go out without “hiding” behind heavy make-up.
- A perfectionist who procrastinates until the pressure of a deadline generates sufficient anxiety to overcome their fear that their work is not good enough to be shared.
However, in clinical practice, these distinctions are often far from straightforward. Safety behaviours are frequently misidentified, rebranded, or conflated with coping strategies. In some instances, the same behaviour may function as both a safety behaviour and a coping strategy—depending on the context and underlying cognitive processes.
Failure to recognise and address these nuances can hinder therapeutic progress, reduce treatment efficacy, and increase client drop-out rates. This masterclass will equip practitioners with the skills to identify, conceptualise, and respond to such behaviours appropriately, thereby improving clinical outcomes and therapeutic engagement.
