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UC Irvine Researchers Find Venting Unnecessary For Some
Based on a recent UC Irvine study of personal reactions to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, researchers have found that venting thoughts and feelings as a therapy method is not beneficial to everyone.
Roxane Cohen Silver, professeor in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at UCI, has dedicated her research to successful personal adjustment after traumatic events. Her latest study posits the idea that the need to vent or voice concerns to another person in an expressive and cathartic manner, is simply a myth reinforced by societal lore regarding how individuals are expected to respond in the wake of a negative life experience.
“Those that don’t express their feelings after a trauma do better over time,” Silver stated.
The study found no evidence that people who do not vent will experience distress later in life. “It just means that therapy isn’t for everyone,” said Silver.
Her current research involves the broad political influence of Americans’ responses to terrorism.

UC Study In Attention Deficit
Beginning in July, UC Irvine School of Social Sciences Dean Barbara Dosher and her team will initiate a five-year study of cognitive attention processes. Funded by a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers will study normal attention processes to shed light on attention deficits and abnormalities, including schizophrenia and stress. Behavioral and computational testing will reveal the appropriate processes individuals use to filter visual information in different environments. This information will allow researchers to better understand attention-related deficits and will allow them to potentially develop methods to improve attention related performance levels.

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