Today, we're going to continue our discussion on safety behaviors.

If you didn't listen to the first part of this episode, head back to your feed and check

that out first.

Welcome back to Savvy Psychologist.

I'm your host, Dr. Monica Johnson.

Every week on this show, I'll help you face life challenges with evidence-based approaches,

a sympathetic ear and zero judgment.

As a reminder, safety behaviors are deliberate actions we engage in in response to worries.

The function of a safety behavior is to allow us to feel better in the present moment and

to eliminate the chances of us experiencing the feared outcome.

Safety behaviors can be tricky, because some of them are more obvious avoidance strategies,

and others make us think we are addressing the issue, but we really aren't.

These unhelpful approach strategies are like busy work for the mind, which leads us to

the first on my list today, double-checking.

Double-checking is when you repeatedly check up on something you're working on, like

an email you need to send, an assignment you need to submit for grading, or even a behavior

like re-re-reading your text messages.

Sometimes it's a preemptive behavior, and other times it's after the fact.

How many of us have re-read texting chains to reassure ourselves that we didn't say

anything stupid?

The problem here is that you're usually not checking once or twice.

You're checking a dozen times, or spending an hour reviewing a text message that's shorter

...