Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Vol 36(2), Jun 2026, 180-194; doi:10.1037/int0000397
Objectives: The current project compares the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal and needs identification interventions for working through lingering anger, bitterness, or resentment in response to interpersonal grievances. Method: Using an experimental, single therapy session design, 197 undergraduate participants (Study 1) completed a brief, self-guided online intervention involving either anger rumination (comparison condition), cognitive reappraisal, or the identification of unmet psychological needs. This design was replicated in a clinical sample of 31 adult participants (Study 2), who were recruited from local mental health clinics, utilizing in-person interventions. Outcomes consisted of changes in self-reported anger intensity, unfinished business, and unforgiveness. Results: Anger rumination produced little change in outcomes in the subclinical sample, whereas rumination exacerbated anger-related difficulties in the clinical sample. In both subclinical and clinical samples, cognitive reappraisal was associated with improvements in self-reported anger intensity, resolution, and unforgiveness. Needs identification was associated with reductions in unforgiveness in the subclinical sample but not in the clinical sample. Conclusions: The current project replicates and extends previous research by suggesting that cognitive reappraisal is more than just an emotion-regulation strategy—it is also a meaning-making strategy that reduces lingering feelings of anger toward intrapersonal resolution or forgiveness of interpersonal grievances. The expression of unmet psychological needs is a process of change that facilitates productive experiences of anger and should also be targeted by interventions across treatment approaches. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)