The study of psychotherapy has often been limited to the ways in which cognitive and behavioral processes promote personal change. Introducing a ground breaking perspective, Greenberg and Safran's compelling new work argues that the presently-felt experience of emotional material in therapy forms a vital underpinning in the generation of change. By including emotion as a psychotherapeutic catalyst, the book offers a more complete and encompassing approach to the process of psychotherapy than has ever before been available. The book draws from the literature of both clinical and experimental psychology to provide a critical review of theory and research on the role of emotion in the process of change. Providing a general theoretical framework for understanding the impact of affect in therapy, this unique volume describes specific change events in which emotions enhance the achievement of therapeutic goals. Case examples and extensive transcripts vividly portray a variety of affective modes--such as completing emotional expression, accessing previously unacknowledged feelings, and restructuring emotions--and illustrate in clear, practical terms how certain processes apply to particular patient problems. Moving beyond the standard approaches to therapy, this volume offers an integrated approach that carefully consider's the client's state in the session that must be amenable to intervention as well as any given intervention and its resulting changes. "A classic resource for both clinicians and researchers."
-Child and Family Behavior Therapy "Emotion and Psychotherapy is profound and stimulating....Safran and Greenberg have put together one of the few edited volumes that, as a whole, is truly exciting. Many edited volumes have interesting chapters; this one is consistently intriguing."
-Contemporary Psychology "A truly outstanding work....Without ignoring dev elopments in behavioral and cognitive science, these Editors attempt to integrate data from emotion theory into the psychotherapeutic process in a way that inevitably portends the future of psychotherapy. Every researcher and practitioner involved with psychotherapy should read this book."
-David H. Barlow, PhD from the publisher's website | 
