TORONTO, August 29, 2001 -- In a forthcoming study York University Psychology Professor Leslie Greenberg, a renowned psychotherapist, is further investigating how "emotion-focused therapy" (EFT) promotes such processes as working through painful feelings, letting go, acceptance and forgiveness to help individuals and couples resolve emotional injuries.

"Prior research has shown that avoiding painful emotions can often do more damage than good, especially when it comes to dealing with unresolved emotional injuries from childhood or past relationships," says Greenberg, the developer of EFT and the director of York's Psychotherapy Research Clinic.

Greenberg explains that emotional injury generally involves unresolved anger and hurt which continues to plague people long after an event, leaving them with emotional baggage. For example, people who have suffered traumatic losses of a parent or loved one often are unable to grieve the loss because of unresolved guilt or anger. Spouses who feel betrayed by their partners' affairs, emotional absence or lack of support or understanding often withdraw behind a wall of unexpressed anger for many years.

He says that EFT seeks to resolve unpleasant emotions by working with them rather than suppressing or avoiding them. "Most psychotherapies are best regarded as forms of emotion suppression therapy in which people cut themselves off from their feelings and from much of what makes them feel human and truly alive," he says. "By contrast, emotion-focused therapy regards many unpleasant emotions as sources of useful information and aims to help people to move on in their lives more effectively."

The two-year study, involving 40 individuals this year and 40 couples next year, will examine the effectiveness of EFT intervention and the means used to resolve emotional injury.

Greenberg's professional publications include 71 peer-reviewed papers, 55 book chapters, and 12 books. Among his most recent books are: Working with Emotion in Psychotherapy (Guilford, 1997); Empathy Reconsidered: New Directions in Theory and Practice (American Psychological Association, 1997); and Handbook of Experiential Psychotherapy (Guilford, 1999). He is a founder of the Society of the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI), a founder of the Society for Constructivism in Psychotherapy (SCP), and a past President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR). He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.

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For further information, please contact:

Dr. Leslie Greenberg Dept. of Psychology York University 416-736-2100, ext. 66111 lgrnberg@yorku.ca YU/090/01

Ken Turriff Media Relations York University  (416) 736-2100, ext. 22086 kturriff@yorku.ca