Expressing Emotion: Myths, Realities and Therapeutic Strategies

Provides coherent guidelines to help clinicians, researchers, and students identify, conceptualize, and treat problems in emotional behavior. They show that expression and nonexpression come in many different forms, with a wide range of personal and relational consequences. Expression can lead to self-knowledge and fuller intimacy, but it can also result in embarrassment or rejection. Conversely, nonexpression can involve a lack of opportunity to express, or problems in articulating feelings, but it can also reflect cultural values or effective coping efforts. The authors illuminate a range of problems related to both expression and nonexpression, and provide insight into how these can be addressed in individual and couple therapy.