Most Popular Books by James W. Pennebaker

Draws on groundbreaking research in computational linguistics to explain what language choices reveal about feelings, self-concept, and social intelligence, in a lighthearted treatise that also explores the language personalities of famous individuals.

"Expressing painful emotions is hard--yet it can actually improve our mental and physical health. Distinguished psychologist James W. Pennebaker has spent decades studying what happens when people take just a few minutes to write about deeply felt personal experiences or problems. This lucid, compassionate book has introduced tens of thousands of readers to an easy to use self help technique that has been proven to heal old emotional wounds, promote a sense of well being, decrease stress, improve relationships, and boost the immune system. Updated with findings from hundreds of new studies, the significantly revised second edition now contains practical exercises to help readers try out expressive writing. It features extensive new information on specific health benefits, as well as when the approach may not be helpful"--

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

Clinical studies show that writing about painful experiences can enhance immune response, reduce recovery time and promote physical, psychological and social well-being. Providing support and gentle advice, this guide to emotionally expressive writing is the perfect gift for someone struggling with trauma or emotional difficulty. Readers are encouraged to write in the journal itself. Attractively packaged, Writing to Heal is sure to become a valued keepsake.

"Emotion, Disclosure and Health" addresses some of the basic issues of psychology and psychotherapy: how people respond to emotional upheavals, why they respond the way they do, and why translating emotional events into language increases physical and mental health. Drawing on work in clinical, social, personality, and health psychology, as well as medical anthropology, the authors address these issues, drawing some stimulating conclusions about how an understanding of disclosure and health may be applied in clinically useful ways.

For the first time, this volume brings together the research and theories of psychologists whose work explores the processes and strategies that are involved when people attempt to control their own thoughts, moods, and behavior. It covers the multiple dimensions of mental control - its causes, consequences, and components, and draws on current research within social, personality, cognitive, developmental, and clinical psychology. For professionals in the field of behavior analysis.

¿Ha guardado alguna vez un secreto demasiado embarazoso como para contarlo? ¿Ha dejado de contar a alguien una experiencia personal por temor a desmerecer su estima? ¿Se ha mentido en alguna ocasión diciéndose a sí mismo que algún hecho desgraciado en realidad no le afecta en absoluto? Si es así, puede estar usted haciéndose daño, no por el hecho de haber tenido malas experiencias en el pasado, sino por no poder expresarlas. James W. Pennebaker intenta mostrar en este libro el poder terapéutico y los saludables efectos emocionales de la comunicación interpersonal, en concreto del hecho de confiar nuestras experiencias negativas a los demás. No se trataa, sin embargo de un libro de recetas milagrosas al uso, sino de una obra que combina el rigor científico con la capacidad divulgativa y la dimensión aplicada. El autor explica sus propias investigaciones sobre los efectos emocionales de la comunicación de un modo ameno e incluso coloquial, presentando gran cantidad de anécdotas ilustrativas e instrucciones prácticas, lo cual, unido a su sólida base científica, hace de El arte de confiar en los demás un libro asequible y útil, no sólo para el profesional o el estudiante, sino también para el lector general.

"Write about what keeps you awake at night."That''s the advice James Pennebaker and John Evans offer in Expressive Writing: Words That Heal. This book will help you overcome the traumas and emotional upheavals that are keeping you awake. You''ll resolve issues, improve your health, and build resilience.Based on nearly 30 years of scientific research, the book shows you how and when expressive writing can improve your health. Its clear explanations of the writing process will enable you to express your most serious issues and deal with them through writing.

Language, whether spoken or written, is an important window into people''s emotional and cognitive worlds. Text analysis of these narratives, focusing on specific words or classes of words, has been used in numerous research studies including studies of emotional, cognitive, structural, and process components of individuals'' verbal and written language. It was in this research context that the LIWC program was developed. The program analyzes text files on a word-by-word basis, calculating percentage words that match each of several language dimensions. Its output is a text file that can be opened in any of a variety of applications, including word processors and spreadsheet programs. The program has 68 pre-set dimensions (output variables) including linguistic dimensions, word categories tapping psychological constructs, and personal concern categories, and can accommodate user-defined dimensions as well. Easy to install and use, this software offers researchers in social, personality, clinical, and applied psychology a valuable tool for quantifying the rich but often slippery data provided in the form of personal narratives. The software comes complete on one 31/2 diskette and runs on any Windows-based computer.