Manual Order With SUDS Visible
SUDS ratings guide the hierarchy, but the final order can be manually adjusted because clinical sequencing may depend on more than numeric distress.
Exposure Hierarchy
Exposure Hierarchy is a CBT exposure planning worksheet for therapists and CBT practitioners working with avoidance-oriented anxiety, OCD, panic, social anxiety, or phobias. It helps the client and practitioner list feared or avoided situations, add SUDS ratings, note avoidance or safety behaviors, and organize items into a lower-to-higher distress roadmap.
Build a sample fear ladder, sort by SUDS as a cue, and review the final manual order.
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Tool guide
Learn more about this tool
Use this background section to understand when the tool fits, how practitioners use it, and what to consider before sharing it with clients.
Safety-Behavior Notes
Safety-behavior notes are reported planning information. A blank field is acceptable and should not be treated as proof that no safety behavior exists.
History During Review
After exposure work begins, changed ratings or order should preserve prior values so progress and revisions remain understandable.
Does the tool create exposure tasks for the practitioner?
No. It organizes practitioner/client-entered feared or avoided situations; it does not generate exposure prescriptions.
What scale is used for ratings?
SUDS ratings are used for each item, and ratings must be within the supported scale range defined by the product implementation.
Can items with the same SUDS rating stay in the hierarchy?
Yes. Items with identical ratings are allowed, and the practitioner can manually order them.
Is one item enough to complete the hierarchy?
No. A one-item hierarchy can be saved as a draft, but a usable progression requires at least two actionable items.