Opening Up: The Healing Power of Confiding in Others

by James W. Pennebaker

Hardcover, 1990

Status

Available

Call number

158.2

Publication

William Morrow & Co (1990), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 251 pages

Description

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)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Egaro
Reference from J. Haidt (The happines hypothesis)
LibraryThing member Pheonix
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
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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!
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Language

Physical description

251 p.; 9.2 inches

ISBN

0688088708 / 9780688088705
Page: 0.2856 seconds