Sometimes emotions are overwhelming because the circumstances, mood or relationship issue is so powerful.  When a loved one dies, your client feels overwhelming grief.  In time, the grief diminishes.  Other times, the intensity of the emotion is greater than the trigger warrants (e.g., a child spills a glass of milk and mom goes into a rage). Most of the time, our client’s emotions are complex.  Story-telling, over-interpretation and ruminative thoughts trigger an overwhelming emotional response (and vice versa).