ABSTRACT
This chapter covers exposure work as well as the need to assess and develop emotional 'literacy' in clients. Positive emotions may be suppressed, consciously or pre-consciously, as they have become associated with disappointment, humiliation or other negative experiences. Diaries are useful to help the client record and rate the intensity of emotions experienced each day. This approach is based on a 'habituation' model, meaning that the exposure work leads to a reduction in intensity of response, the same way as pressing on a nerve eventually leads to habituation and a reduction in firing. Cognitive behaviour therapy has a strong protocol for graded exposure, using a hierarchy of situations rated by the client as relatively easy to relatively difficult. Compassion focused therapy focuses on transforming emotions, to increase experience of compassion. Dialectical behaviour therapy uses mindfulness to sit with intense emotions and also teaches clients how to ‘down regulate’ them.
