Should safety behaviours be allowed during exposure therapy?

For a very long time many psychologists held the opinion that safety behaviors should be avoided under all circumstances. But new evidence suggests that the judicious use of safety behaviors could be helpful…

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Studies and books (only a small selection):

Blakey, S. M., Abramowitz, J. S., Buchholz, J. L., Jessup, S. C., Jacoby, R. J., Reuman, L., & Pentel, K. Z. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of the judicious use of safety behaviors during exposure therapy. Behaviour research and therapy, 112, 28-35.

Blakey, S. M., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2016). The effects of safety behaviors during exposure therapy for anxiety: Critical analysis from an inhibitory learning perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 49, 1-15.

Burck, E. (2019). Angst-Was hilft wirklich gegen Angst und Panikattacken?: Die effektivsten Strategien gegen Angst und Panik aus Sicht der Forschung. BoD–Books on Demand.

Deacon, B. J., Sy, J. T., Lickel, J. J., & Nelson, E. A. (2010). Does the judicious use of safety behaviors improve the efficacy and acceptability of exposure therapy for claustrophobic fear?. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41(1), 71-80.

Helbig-Lang, S., & Petermann, F. (2010). Tolerate or eliminate? A systematic review on the effects of safety behavior across anxiety disorders. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 17(3), 218.

Levy, H. C., & Radomsky, A. S. (2014). Safety behaviour enhances the acceptability of exposure. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 43(1), 83-92.

Milosevic, I., & Radomsky, A. S. (2013). Keep your eye on the target: Safety behavior reduces targeted threat beliefs following a behavioral experiment. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37(3), 557-571.

Rachman, S., Radomsky, A. S., & Shafran, R. (2008). Safety behaviour: A reconsideration. Behaviour research and therapy, 46(2), 163-173.