Employment counseling and life stressors: coping through expressive writing

Job loss can be one of life's most traumatic experiences, especially if the unemployment is extended. In addition to more common interventions used by employment counselors and others dedicated to assisting clients in the sea rch for work, it can be helpful to assist clients in expressing their negat ive feelings through writing. Expressive writing is a powerful technique us ed successfully to confront traumatic life events. Beneficial effects of ex pressive writing include understanding why feelings occur. Factors that fav orably influence expressive writing and specific procedures for implementat ion in the employment counseling context are discussed.