Expressing Emotion

Jeanne C. Watson, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She is the coeditor of the Handbook of Experiential Psychotherapy and has written numerous articles on psychotherapy process and outcome. Dr. Watson has a part-time private practice in Toronto.

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 - Accomplishe[s] the daunting feat of artfully combining a robust review of research with practical, clinical understanding....Will serve as a comprehensive source book for understanding emotions and emotional expression for decades to come....Expressing Emotion is one of those multi-talented psychological works, capable of serving as a text for undergraduate or graduate courses, as well as an enjoyable book for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of human emotions. --Journal of Psychotherapy in Independent Practice, 3/17/2001ƒƒ A particularly relevant text for clinical psychology in the context of recent discussions of emotional intelligence and the limitations of purely behavioural or cognitive perspectives on human functioning and therapeutic change....This book addresses a very complex and intriguing topic in a stimulating, readable manner. It is pragmatic enough for the practicing therapist and stimulating enough for the theoretically oriented reader. It will find a treasured place in many a clinician's and teacher's library. --Canadian Psychology, 3/17/2001ƒƒ The authors' comprehensive dissection of the scientific research is impressive....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 orientations, professors, and students. --Readings, 3/17/2001

• ContentsI. Introduction1. Expression, Nonexpression, and Well-Being: An OverviewII. Intrapersonal Processes2. The Myth of Emotional Venting3. Blind Spots and Epiphanies: Expression, Nonexpression, and Emotional Insight4. The Shoulds, Oughts, and Musts of Emotional Behavior: Expressive Goals and ValuesIII. Interpersonal Processes5. Family Socialization of Emotional Behavior6. Men, Women, and the Language of Love7. Telling One's Troubles: Expression of Distress in Intimate RelationshipsIV. Treatment Implications8. Expression and Nonexpression in Psychotherapy: Facilitating Emotional Understanding and Behavioral Change9. Beyond Sadness: Therapeutic Approaches to Emotional Constriction in Depression 10. Flooding or Blunting: Vacillating Expression and Nonexpression in Bereavement and Trauma11. Emotional Expression in Marital Therapy12. Expression-Related Interventions in Health PsychologyV. Conclusion13. Balance in Emotional Behavior