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New book looks at what our emotions are trying to tell us

Newswise, July 2010 — Dr. Paul Rasmussen, professor of psychology at Furman University, has published a new book that examines the power of emotions and the important role they play in mental health.

The book, The Quest to Feel Good, argues that emotions such as anxiety and depression are more than the result of random or disordered biochemical processes in the brain. Instead, they are mechanisms that help us adapt to the demands of life and serve as basic learning processes.

“We have come to believe that life should be lived without any unhappiness or distress and that any negative emotion is a sign of a disordered physiology,” Rasmussen said. “But we need to understand that even so-called negative emotions can exist in the service of our well-being. They shouldn’t be viewed simply as biochemical demons that must be eradicated.”

The Quest to Feel Good was published in June by Routledge Publishing.

Rasmussen has been at Furman since 1990, where he teaches courses in psychopathology, psychopathic personality, and counseling and psychotherapy. He is also the author of Personality-Guided Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, published by the American Psychological Association, and he gave the keynote address at this summer’s annual meeting of the Israeli Association of Adlerian Psychology in Tel Aviv.

A graduate of Southern Utah University, Rasmussen holds a master's degree in experimental psychology from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia. In addition to his teaching duties at Furman, he maintains a private practice in Greenville for families and individuals.