Expressing Emotion: Myths, Realities, and Therapeutic Strategies

Review

"I cannot recommend this text highly enough....In the literature on working with emotion in psychotherapy, Expressing Emotion is the very best around." --Brent Dean Robbins, Mental Help Net, MetaPsychology Book Reviews
"It is impossible to do justice in a brief review to this excellent contribution to the literature on emotions." --Margaret C. Kiely, PhD, Readings: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health
"Artfully combining a robust review of research with practical, clinical understanding...will serve as a comprehensive source book for understanding emotion...for decades to come." --Journal of Psychotherapy in Independent Practice
"This book may well become the Michelin Guide for anyone touring the emotion literature. The authors have done a brilliant job in showing how emotion and its expression can serve as the basic organizing feature of much of modern-day psychology. This is a 'must-read' for psychology students, psychotherapists, and researchers. I will certainly use it as a text in my upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses." --James W. Pennebaker, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin; author of Opening Up.
"The experience and communication of emotion gives texture and meaning to our lives, and this book vividly describes how such emotional experiencing can be enhanced. The authors provide comprehensive coverage of the early socialization influences of emotional inexpressiveness. Their superb exposition also encompasses the physical, psychological, and interpersonal problems associated with the inability to identify and communicate emotions. Additionally, the book reviews clinical procedures for use in both individual and couple therapy. Providing a creative mix of research findings and clinical guidelines, this volume is an invaluable reference for clinicians and researchers alike." --Marvin R. Goldfried, PhD, Professor of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook

From the Publisher

The following review of "Expressing Emotion" appeared in "Readings: A Journal of Reviews Books" rel="tag">Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health," 3/00, Vol. 15(1), p. 26. "It is impossible to do justice in a brief review to this excellent contribution to the literature on emotions. The authors' comprehensive dissection of the scientific research is impressive. They have culled the literature to present a clear, sound analysis of the effects of expressing or withholding emotions on physical well-being, psychological functioning, and interpersonal relationships. They demonstrate, through multiple examples of clinical practice, the complexities and paradoxes of emotional expression or nonexpression and, in doing so, establish their central thesis: that balance emotional behavior is characterized by integration flexibility, and interpersonal coordination. Current thinking maintains that simply expressing emotions is sufficient; these authors show that integrating them into psychological functioning is of the essence. Succinct, ongoing summaries, precise definitions of terminology, and logical development of the process model all contribute to! the overall excellence of this scientifically challenging and creative book, an essential one for researchers, psychotherapists of all orientation, professors, and students.--Margaret C. Kiely, Ph.D. Dept. of Psychology, U of Montreal."