Which RET technique encourages the individual to do things about which they feel shame without believing they are foolish?

• A. Self-instructional therapy
• B. Stress-inoculation training
• C. Polarized Thinking
• D. Shame-attacking exercises

Answer: (D)

In RET, one powerful way to challenge shame and fear of looking foolish is to deliberately engage in activities you would normally avoid because of that shame. Shame-attacking exercises push you to do things that would typically trigger embarrassment, with the aim of gathering real-world evidence about what happens when others react or when you’re judged. By facing the situation and surviving or even laughing at the moment, you begin to see that being seen as foolish isn’t as catastrophic as you fear. This exposure helps shift the belief from “I must avoid any shame at all costs” to a more tolerant view of social judgment and a stronger sense of agency.

Self-instructional therapy focuses on changing internal dialogue, not on deliberately provoking shame. Stress inoculation training builds coping skills for handling stress more generally, rather than targeting the specific fear of being judged as foolish. Polarized thinking refers to a cognitive distortion (seeing things as all good or all bad) rather than a specific, experiential technique to test and disconfirm shame-based beliefs. Shame-attacking exercises are the method that directly targets and reduces the fear of social humiliation by testing the belief in a controlled, experiential way.