Track SUDs across sessions to see your own progress

Record distress ratings before and after each session so progress is visible and motivating.

Why it works

Anxiety reduction during extinction is gradual and uneven — there are bad sessions. Without a data record, people rely on recency bias and quit during a temporary plateau. Visible progress graphs build self-efficacy by providing concrete evidence of change, and self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of treatment completion.

How to do it

1. Before each session, rate peak anticipated distress (0–100 SUDs).
2. After each session, rate actual peak distress and distress at the session end.
3. Plot both over sessions and look for the downward trend across sessions, not within them.
4. Share the log with a therapist or coach to calibrate pacing.

Evidence

Self-monitoring supports behavior change across domains; its specific value in exposure protocols is primarily mechanistic and clinically derived rather than from controlled trials isolating monitoring itself. (mechanistic)

SUDs are subjective; over-reliance on them can cause premature termination (person stops when SUDs are low mid-session) rather than staying through the full habituation curve.

Common mistake

Using the log to look for session-by-session perfection rather than a noisy downward trend across weeks — one bad session does not mean the treatment is not working.