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Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions

by James W. Pennebaker

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1392195,287 (3.58)None
Anyone who has ever entrusted a troubling secret to a journal, or mourned a broken heart with a friend, knows the feeling of relief that expressing painful emotions can bring. This book presents astonishing evidence that personal self-disclosure is not only good for our emotional health, but boosts our physical health as well. Psychologist James W. Pennebaker has conducted controlled clinical research that sheds new light on the powerful mind body connection. This book interweaves his findings with insightful case studies on secret-keeping, confession, and the hidden price of silence. Filled with information and encouragement, Opening Up explains: *Why suppressing inner problems takes a devastating toll on health *How long-buried trauma affects the immune system *How writing about your problems can improve your health *Why it's never too late to heal old emotional wounds *When self-disclosure may be risky--and how to know whom to trust… (more)
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So the book isn't what I expected. There's been a tiny bit of helpful stuff. Mostly it's about research findings that this psychologist did with students. Not really ways to open up and stuff, like the title suggests.

I definitely wouldn't pay for this book, unless I was a psychologist doing studies into human behaviour and it's effects on thoughts and the effects of thoughts and what we don't say and keep bottled up.

It's not really that helpful for someone looking into ways to start opening up. He did give some ideas to introduce when you're writing to clear your mind and be in the present and if you focus on daily grind stuff or if you focus on trauma specific issues. So that was interesting and I plan to try it out on my own.

So far that's about all that I personally have gotten out of it for what I picked it up to help me learn to do. So I am a bit disappointed.

Right now I would rate it at a 2/5 for what I thought it was going to be helpful in discovering how to reconnect and open up in therapy and in your own writing. And I would rate it 4/5 for professionals interested in how thoughts and experiences influence physical body conditions, and studies to conduct to research this area of study.

Will write more to come once I finish this book!

Now that I have finished the book I feel very dissatisfied. If you're looking for a research based and that sort of style in a book, then this is the book for you.

This book does very little to nothing in relation to what the book's heading and topic is. That being opening up. It doesn't really enlighten you how to do this, just that in a variety of studies this author, psychologist and researcher conducted on students, he found that writing isn't what is helpful, it's the action of letting things out so you can organize your thoughts and problems and find ways to resolve them.

I was hoping this book would be tips and ways to talk to therapists if you have a difficult time discussing your own personal tragedies and traumas. Instead, this book was about various writing studies and findings the author and his student assistants discovered in trials with fellow students. I did get a few helpful things from the book, but overall it was a far cry from what the book claimed to be and do for readers.

I wouldn't buy this book, just borrow it. It's really only worth reading if you're studying human behaviour in regards to using writing therapies to see the benefits of self reflection and major self reflection and analyzing of one's problems stemming from traumas they experienced. A well written book, just not what it was marketed as gives it a low score in my mind. ( )
  Pheonix | Mar 26, 2011 |
Reference from J. Haidt (The happines hypothesis)
  Egaro | Aug 23, 2010 |
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Anyone who has ever entrusted a troubling secret to a journal, or mourned a broken heart with a friend, knows the feeling of relief that expressing painful emotions can bring. This book presents astonishing evidence that personal self-disclosure is not only good for our emotional health, but boosts our physical health as well. Psychologist James W. Pennebaker has conducted controlled clinical research that sheds new light on the powerful mind body connection. This book interweaves his findings with insightful case studies on secret-keeping, confession, and the hidden price of silence. Filled with information and encouragement, Opening Up explains: *Why suppressing inner problems takes a devastating toll on health *How long-buried trauma affects the immune system *How writing about your problems can improve your health *Why it's never too late to heal old emotional wounds *When self-disclosure may be risky--and how to know whom to trust

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