CASL

The Clinical Affective Science Lab is housed within the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Emotions

Emotions are a part of our daily life. Even day to day activities can elicit emotions. These emotions can guide and motivate us. At times, we may want to use strategies to change or cope with our emotions while engaging in activities that are important to us. One of our goals is to understand the difficulties people have in how they experience or regulate their emotions. 

Mental Health Problems

Some people struggle with emotional difficulties on a chronic basis. People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and those who engage in risky behaviors (e.g., self-injury, substance use) have an especially difficult time regulating their emotions. As a result, much of our research focuses on these problems.

Treatment

We also work to understand treatments for emotion regulation problems. One effective treatment for emotion regulation difficulties and related problems is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan. We identify ways of streamlining this treatment by comparing different elements and doses of the treatment.