From Emotional Suppression to Self-Understanding: A Grounded Theory of Emotion-Regulation Development During Counseling
Keywords:
Emotional suppression, emotion regulation, self-understanding, counseling, grounded theory, emotional awareness, psychological flexibility, MexicoAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to develop a grounded theory explaining how adults receiving counseling in Mexico progress from habitual emotional suppression toward greater emotional awareness, regulation, and self-understanding.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed a grounded theory design. Participants were 26 adults from Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey who had received at least eight sessions of individual counseling and reported difficulties related to identifying, tolerating, expressing, or regulating emotions. Participants were recruited through purposive and theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60–90 minutes, accompanied by field notes and analytical memos. Data collection and analysis proceeded concurrently. The constant comparative method was applied through initial coding, focused coding, category development, theoretical coding, memo writing, and continuous comparison within and across participants. Credibility was strengthened through reflexive documentation, peer debriefing, examination of negative cases, participant feedback, and maintenance of an analytical audit trail.
Findings: Analysis generated 487 initial codes, 31 focused concepts, 12 subcategories, and five major categories integrated around the core category of “reclaiming emotion as a source of self-knowledge.” The emerging theory indicated a recursive developmental movement from protective emotional suppression through disruption of habitual avoidance, recognition and tolerance of emotional experience, construction of emotional meaning, deliberate regulation, and integrated self-understanding. Emotional suppression initially functioned as protection from vulnerability, judgment, and interpersonal threat but gradually restricted emotional clarity and self-knowledge. Counseling-related safety, validation, reflective attention, and repeated behavioral experimentation facilitated greater emotional flexibility. Development was non-linear, and temporary returns to suppression occurred particularly during heightened stress or interpersonal invalidation.
Conclusion: Emotion-regulation development during counseling appears to involve a transformation from automatic defensive control toward reflective emotional choice, in which emotions become increasingly recognized, tolerated, interpreted, and incorporated into intentional action and coherent self-understanding.
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