Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression

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The world appears to have remained supersaturated in chaos over the past year or so, more than any other time within my faulty memory, as I’ve intentionally decided to focus on posting blog entries with niche topics. For instance, writing about fright that occurs when driving a vehicle.

Regarding my personal and professional approach to care for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”), predominately using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I’ve taken a Stoic position of indifference as of late. For context, one source states:

Stoicism is a philosophical movement and practical guide to living, emphasizing daily self-discipline and moral improvement, which originated in the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece and proliferated well into the Roman Imperial period.

The ancient Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, or logos, providing a unified account of the world, constructed from ideals of rational discourse, monistic physics, and naturalistic ethics. These three ideals constitute virtue, which is necessary for the Stoic goal of ‘living a well-reasoned life’.

Using this frame for my approach to my own mental health, as well as for the clients with whom I work, I sometimes turn my gaze from sociopolitical matters to philosophical and psychological topics. For example, I discovered that one online source posted the following content today:

I have read Epictetus, along with Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, and I’ll be honest about what that has and hasn’t done for me. Knowing the line is not the same as living it. I can quote it cleanly and still lose an hour to a remark I didn’t like.

What the reading changed is smaller than mastery and more useful than nothing: a slightly better chance of catching the gap while it is still open — the half-second where I notice that the thing itself has already happened and is over, and that most of what I am still feeling is commentary I am adding after the fact.

I don’t always catch it, but more often than I used to. The reason the line lasted is probably that it turned out to be more than consolation. Centuries later it became the backbone of a kind of therapy.

Albert Ellis, whose work in the 1950s laid the foundation for [REBT], traced his method straight back to the Stoics — the institute that carries his name still describes the approach as having “roots dating back to the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus.” The move at the center of it is the one Epictetus is pointing at: not the event, but the belief you wrapped around the event, is the thing you can actually get your hands on.

Modern research has a plainer name for that move — cognitive reappraisal, changing how you interpret a situation rather than gritting your teeth through the feeling. Experiments have found that reappraising tends to lower the experience of negative emotion, and that it does so without the costs that come from simply bottling things up.

That second part is where the quote often gets misread. Reappraising and suppressing are not the same, and the research is fairly clear that bottling up works far less well — the point was never to feel nothing.

Here, a number of terms are worth defining. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), cognition is defined as “all forms of knowing and awareness, such as perceiving, conceiving, remembering, reasoning, judging, imagining, and problem solving.”

As well, the APA defines an appraisal as “the cognitive evaluation of the nature and significance of a phenomenon or event.” Whereas an appraisal is an initial evaluation of significance, a reappraisal is merely a subsequent evaluation of the matter at hand.

Additionally, the APA defines an expression as “an external manifestation of an internal condition or characteristic.” Whereas an expression is a noun referring to as act (e.g., a smile related to happiness), expressive is an adjective used to describe conveyance of an expression.

Also, the APA defines suppression as “a conscious effort to put disturbing thoughts and experiences out of mind, or to control and inhibit the expression of unacceptable impulses and feelings.” Regarding these terms, it may be of some use to discuss a major tool of REBT.

For clarity, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, not the event itself, that causes an unpleasant Consequence. This is known as distress or disturbance.

As indicated by the aforementioned source, the aim of REBT and Stoicism isn’t suppression. Rather, one learns to endue uncomfortable outcomes, whatever they may be (e.g., global chaos). Specifically, it’s worth noting that one REBT source states (page 71):

REBT conceptualizes [distress] as healthy even though it is intense. Other approaches to therapy have as their goal the reduction of the intensity of negative emotions. They take this position because they do not keenly differentiate between healthy negative emotions (distress) and unhealthy negative emotions (disturbance).

Now, REBT keenly distinguishes between healthy distress and unhealthy disturbance. Healthy distress stems from your rational beliefs about a negative activating event [Action], whilst disturbance stems from your irrational beliefs about the same event.

Complete elimination of distress is highly unlikely in an impermanent and uncertain world wherein people conceptually suffer, struggle, and battle with, or merely experience hardship. Still, individuals often make matters worse for themselves by disturbing about such instances.

In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people often use to distress or disturb themselves: global evaluations, low frustration tolerance, awfulizing, and demandingness. When contemplating these unproductive scripts, think of the acronym GLAD.

Additionally, from a psychological standpoint, people distress or disturb themselves using a Belief-Consequence (B-C) connection. Of course, this isn’t to suggest that in the context of the naturalistic or physical world there is no Action-Consequence (A-C) connection.

Sharing common ground with the previously cited source, framing the matter with the A-C connection, I’ve also read content from Epictetus, Aurelius, Seneca, and other Stoics (Action), which has improved my knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of Stoicism (Consequence).

Nevertheless, regarding the B-C connection, I’ve gotten sidetracked with my opinions about the practicality of ancient and modern Stoic descriptions versus prescriptions. For illumination, I’ll provide examples of both negative/healthy and negative/unhealthy outcomes.

Hypothetically, I read Stoic philosophy (Action) and Believe, “Stoics are and were pretentious assholes [G], and I have zero tolerance for their absolutist bullshit [L], because a lot of what they propose is appallingly pathetic nonsense [A], so I absolutely shouldn’t accept their views [D].”

Fortunately, I don’t actually use this unaccommodating self-narrative. Still, for the sake of elucidation, let’s suppose that I do. When telling myself this inflexible GLAD prescription, I’d likely endure negative/unhealthy disgust and anger (Consequence).

Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unproductive philosophies of life in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Whereas rigid beliefs cause self-disturbance, flexible beliefs result in an un-disturbed condition.

When reading ancient and modern Stoic perspectives with which I often disagree (Action), I’m actually more inclined to Effectively believe, “Although I’d prefer that appeals to unfalsifiability weren’t used [e.g., cosmic reason], I can instead take from Stoicism what I do find valuable.”

With this Effective belief, I endure negative/healthy disappointment and annoyance (Consequence). Ideally, I’d simply remain indifferent (marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something). Lately, I’ve been indifferent regarding geopolitical chaos.

In any event, the cited online source mentioned “cognitive reappraisal,” a term with which I was unfamiliar prior to drafting this blogpost. For your benefit, I’ll share with you what I learned. Examining the provided link offered by the online resource, I was directed to a source that states:

Individuals regulate their emotions in a wide variety of ways. In the present review it has been addressed the issue of whether some forms of emotion regulation are healthier than others by focusing on two commonly used emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal (changing the way one thinks about potentially emotion-eliciting events) and expressive suppression (changing the way one behaviorally responds to emotion-eliciting events).

In the first section, experimental findings showing that cognitive reappraisal has a healthier profile of short-term affective, cognitive, and social consequences than expressive suppression are briefly reported. In the second section, individual-difference findings are reviewed showing that using cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions is associated with healthier patterns of affect, social functioning, and well-being than is using expressive suppression.

A cursory takeaway from this source appears to indicate that cognitive reappraisal is preferable to expressive suppression. Now, let us briefly examine these two concepts. According to one source:

Cognitive reappraisal is a strategy for everyday living in which a person deliberately aims to modify their emotional response [i.e., Consequence] to experience [i.e., Action] by changing their thoughts [i.e., rational or irrational Beliefs].

It involves evaluating an emotionally charged situation [i.e., Action] from a different perspective [i.e., Effective belief] than what comes automatically to mind [i.e., rational Belief that causes healthy distress or irrational Belief that causes unhealthy disturbance].

Cognitive reappraisal is used to counter habitual—and often negative—interpretations [i.e., Beliefs] of events [i.e., Actions] that can lead to getting stuck in emotional turmoil or interfere with goal pursuits [i.e., Consequence]. Cognitive reappraisal reflects a core fact of psychological life—individuals can play a significant role in shaping their own emotional experience [i.e., [Effective beliefs].

Given the information described by this source, cognitive reappraisal is merely another term from the Effective new beliefs which are the goal when using the ABC model—whether resulting in negative/healthy distress or indifference. Now, consider that another source states:

Expressive Suppression occurs when during or after an emotion experience [i.e., Consequence], a person tries to hide or inhibit the facial expressions that match their emotional experience (Gross & Levenson, 1993).

For instance, you would be suppressing your facial expressions if you were disappointed [by your Beliefs about] a present your parents gave you. Your true emotion is disappointment, but you show either a neutral or joy expression on your face.

Many studies compare the impact of expressive suppression to cognitive appraisal. Overall, research suggests that expressive suppression is detrimental to our own and our close others’ physical and psychological health and can even reduce relationship satisfaction. Specifically, suppression increases SNS [sympathetic nervous system] arousal, increases self-reported negative emotions, and reduces self-reported positive emotions.

To summarize the difference between cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, the former is a healthy means of using Effective beliefs about undesirable Actions, as to produce desired Consequences, while the latter is an unhealthy method of masking Consequences.

As this matter regards the original online source that addressed a Stoic approach to living well, “the point [of Stoicism and REBT practice] was never to feel nothing,” as that unhealthy method of living regards expressive suppression. Rather, healthy living relates to cognitive reappraisal.

Now, I invite you to consider a Stoic method of living. Appealing to absurd concepts such as cosmic reason isn’t necessary! You can humanistically find within yourself an ability to Dispute unhelpful Beliefs and discover Effective new beliefs which lead to preferred Consequences.

This is precisely what I’ve done as of late, given that geopolitical chaos is outside of my circle of control. Therefore, for the most part, I’ve remained indifferent. This has helped quite a bit, as well as the likelihood that my website is probably being algorithmically suppressed.

Oh well, too bad! I suppose that blogposts about how the United States (U.S.) and Israel have engaged in genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes aren’t matters worthy of algorithmic promotion. I guess that U.S. voters will eventually vote our nation out of oppression /s.

At any rate, I remain indifferent as I practice Stoicism. Yes, I observe global chaos. Of course, I’m aware of suffering throughout the world. Still, I recognize how little control and influence that I have. Neither U.S. nor Israeli officials have asked if I support their terroristic endeavors.

I don’t! Therefore, I focus my efforts on writing niche blogposts which are evidently algorithmically suppressed. Ergo, I present to you a psychoeducational lesson on cognitive reappraisal and expressive expression. May it serve you better than does the U.S. government.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

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Hollings, D. (2025, February 11). Ethnic cleansing. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/ethnic-cleansing

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Hollings, D. (2024, January 27). Genocide. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/genocide

Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better

Hollings, D. (2026, March 2). Get out of your own way: Petty annoyances and minor obstacles. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-out-of-your-own-way-petty-annoyances-and-minor-obstacles

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Hollings, D. (2024, October 21). Impermanence and uncertainty. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/impermanence-and-uncertainty

Hollings, D. (2026, April 26). Impulse. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/impulse

Hollings, D. (2025, July 23). Indifference: How much more relaxed would you be? Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/indifference-how-much-more-relaxed-would-you-be

Hollings, D. (2026, April 21). Inhibition: You’ve got to give it up till you can’t get enough. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/inhibition-you-ve-got-to-give-it-up-till-you-can-t-get-enough

Hollings, D. (2024, February 14). Insufferable vs. undesirable. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/insufferable-vs-undesirable

Hollings, D. (2024, January 2). Interests and goals. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/interests-and-goals

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Hollings, D. (2023, April 24). On truth. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-truth

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Hollings, D. (2025, April 9). Perception, action, and will. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/perception-action-and-will

Hollings, D. (2025, October 27). Physiological and psychological fitness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/physiological-and-psychological-fitness

Hollings, D. (2025, April 25). Preferences vs. expectations. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/preferences-vs-expectations

Hollings, D. (2025, November 13). Problem solving in regard to anger: How to eat an elephant. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/problem-solving-in-regard-to-anger-how-to-eat-an-elephant

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Hollings, D. (2024, February 6). Rational expression. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-expression

Hollings, D. (2025, August 13). Rational versus irrational thoughts and beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-versus-irrational-thoughts-and-beliefs

Hollings, D. (2024, January 1). Rational vs. irrational. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-vs-irrational

Hollings, D. (2024, May 15). Rational living. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-living

Hollings, D. (2026, April 9). Real Terrorism: Operation Eternal Darkness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/real-terrorism-operation-eternal-darkness

Hollings, D. (2024, December 5). Reasoning. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/reasoning

Hollings, D. (2024, March 14). REBT and emotions. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rebt-and-emotions

Hollings, D. (2024, July 18). REBT flexibility. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rebt-flexibility

Hollings, D. (2023, February 17). Revisiting the circle of control. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/revisiting-the-circle-of-control

Hollings, D. (2024, January 4). Rigid vs. rigorous. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rigid-vs-rigorous

Hollings, D. (2025, October 9). Self-awareness, self-examination, and self-determination. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-awareness-self-examination-and-self-determination

Hollings, D. (2024, April 30). Self-discipline. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-discipline

Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance

Hollings, D. (2026, April 21). Self-upset. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-upset

Hollings, D. (2026, June 11). Shaping: Force of habit – No rewarding bad behavior! Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/shaping-force-of-habit-no-rewarding-bad-behavior

Hollings, D. (2026, February 25). Stoic joy. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/stoic-joy

Hollings, D. (2024, April 21). Stoicism. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/stoicism

Hollings, D. (2024, February 27). Suffering, struggling, and battling vs. experiencing. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/suffering-struggling-and-battling-vs-experiencing

Hollings, D. (2024, October 3). That’s what my therapist on TikTok tells me. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/that-s-what-my-therapist-on-tiktok-tells-me

Hollings, D. (2022, December 23). The A-C connection. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-a-c-connection

Hollings, D. (2022, December 25). The B-C connection. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-b-c-connection

Hollings, D. (2022, November 2). The critical A. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-critical-a

Hollings, D. (2026, April 23). The three traditionally identified components of the mind: Affect, cognition, and conation. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-three-traditionally-identified-components-of-the-mind-affect-cognition-and-conation

Hollings, D. (2025, April 15). This cake smells unpleasant. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/this-cake-smells-unpleasant

Hollings, D. (2025, October 22). The construct. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-construct

Hollings, D. (2026, June 5). To offend and endure offense: Você tem chulé. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/to-offend-and-endure-offense-você-tem-chulé

Hollings, D. (2025, February 28). To try is my goal. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/to-try-is-my-goal

Hollings, D. (2025, December 23). Too bad. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/too-bad

Hollings, D. (2025, January 9). Traditional ABC model. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/traditional-abc-model

Hollings, D. (2023, October 22). Unfalsifiability. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unfalsifiability

Hollings, D. (2024, March 18). Unhealthy vs. healthy negative emotions. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unhealthy-vs-healthy-negative-emotions

Hollings, D. (2024, October 26). Unhelpful expectations. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unhelpful-expectations

Hollings, D. (2025, February 9). Value. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/value

Hollings, D. (2025, September 28). War crimes: A rational course of action. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/war-crimes-a-rational-course-of-action

Hollings, D. (2022, August 8). Was Freud right? Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/was-freud-right

Hollings, D. (2024, September 29). Well, well, well. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/well-well-well

Hollings, D. (2026, April 30). Willfully stuck: I’m stuck in my ways. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/willfully-stuck-i-m-stuck-in-my-ways

Hollings, D. (2026, May 8). You cannot vote your way out of oppression or comply your way out of tyranny. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/you-cannot-cote-your-way-out-of-oppression-or-comply-your-way-out-of-tyranny

Hollings, D. (2026, March 26). You’ll have suffered twice. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/you-ll-have-suffered-twice

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