Emotion in Psychotherapy: A Practice-Friendly Research Review  Leslie S. Greenberg York University  Antonio Pascual-Leone University of Windsor This article reviews the process and outcome research on emotion in psychotherapy. Four distinct types of emotion processes are identified in the literature as useful in therapy, depending on a client’s presenting con- cerns: emotional awareness and arousal; emotional regulation, active reflec- tion on emotion (meaning making), and emotional transformation. Research findings are summarized to highlight the practical implications of these different emotion processes to psychotherapy. A range of selected treat- ments from different therapeutic orientations are addressed collectively as different types of emotion-focused, experiential therapies and are com- pared on the basis of how they work with emotion in session. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 62: 611–630, 2006. Keywords: emotion; psychotherapy; process; outcome; change mechanisms The idea that accessing and exploring painful emotions and “bad feelings” in a therapeu- tic relationship make one feel better is a widely held belief among several schools of psychotherapy. Many theorists, from Freud (1963), through Rogers (1951) and Perls (1969), to the authors in this issue, have all proposed that “emotional work” is therapeu- tic. Corroborating evidence is found in a recent study, examining the therapists’ stance in interpersonal therapy (IPT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) of depression. Two factors described therapists’ style of engagement in these treatments: collaborative emo- tional exploration and educative /directive process (Coombs, Coleman, & Jones 2002). Collaborative emotional exploration, which occurred significantly more frequently in Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Leslie S. Greenberg, Ph.D., Rm. 211 BSB, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3; e-mail: lgrnberg@yorku.ca JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: IN SESSION, Vol. 62(5), 611–630 (2006) © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20252