Emotion in Therapy

Grounded in cutting-edge scientific research, this book presents innovative ways to explore and work with emotions in psychotherapy. Preeminent clinician-researcher Stefan G. Hofmann accessibly explains how emotions operate, what influences them, and how they can cause distress. He presents strategies that can significantly improve existing evidence-based treatments and promote positive affect and happiness. Clinicians are guided to help clients with any diagnosis gain emotional awareness and use emotion regulation techniques, mindfulness-based practices, and other effective strategies. "In Practice" features highlight specific clinical issues and offer illustrative case vignettes.

Table of Contents
Foreword, Steven C. Hayes
1. The Nature of Emotions
2. Individual Differences
3. Motivation and Emotion
4. Self and Self-Regulation
5. Emotion Regulation
6. Appraisal and Reappraisal
7. Positive Affect and Happiness
8. Neurobiology of Emotions
Appendix I. Common Self-Report Measures
Appendix II. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Appendix III. Expressive Writing

Reviews
"This outstanding volume covers diverse areas related to emotions in therapy, including biology and neuroscience, social and personality psychology, motivation, and recent mindfulness meditation strategies. The author also gives concrete recommendations and tools for targeting emotions in clinical practice."--Aaron T. Beck, MD, University Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Medical School

"Hofmann is a leading thinker in the field of cognitive-behavioral therapy. He does an excellent job of synthesizing findings from psychology and brain sciences to help better understand how the concept of emotion fits into the therapeutic process. I learned a great deal from this book."--Joseph E. LeDoux, PhD, Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology, New York University

"The book illustrates how affective science can be translated into clinical practice, honing in on techniques that are useful for treatment of a variety of emotional problems. The many 'In Practice' features will be of particular interest to clinicians, as they provide a veritable bounty of practical information. The summaries of clinically relevant points at the end of each chapter also provide useful guideposts. Clinicians will find this book both accessible and useful--a winning combination."--Ann M. Kring, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

"This volume cogently demonstrates that the time has come for emotion in psychotherapy. If you want a thoughtful translation of multidisciplinary research on emotion into clinical applications, you must read this book. It provides an excellent overview of the field, shows how emotion is a core aspect of the majority of psychological problems, and distills a set of cognitive-behavioral clinical strategies for working with emotion. By integrating work with emotion into a cognitive-behavioral approach, Hofmann makes a wonderful contribution to the trend toward psychotherapy integration. This is a helpful book for clinicians that would serve as a good textbook in any course on psychotherapy or counseling."--Leslie S. Greenberg, PhD, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, York University, Canada

"Contemporary clinical training paradoxically lacks a focus on emotions, even though the vast majority of mental health problems are emotional problems. This excellent book meets the need for a bridge between fundamental emotion research and the clinical field. It will be most helpful for students and clinicians in increasing their understanding of emotions--functional and dysfunctional--which form the essence of human life and are central to most psychopathology."--Arnoud Arntz, PhD, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Stefan G. Hofmann, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University, where he directs the Psychotherapy and Emotion Research Laboratory. His research focuses on various aspects of emotional disorders, with a particular emphasis on anxiety disorders and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Dr. Hofmann is a recipient of the Aaron T. Beck Award from the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and the Award for Excellence in Contributions to CBT from the Aaron T. Beck Institute for Cognitive Studies at Assumption College, and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson Reuters. Editor-in-Chief of Cognitive Therapy and Research, Dr. Hofmann has published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 books. He is past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy.