Where can I find some informative reference material regarding thought suppression in cognitive psychology?
Honestly, the oldest material is the best. Look up some B.F. Skinner. Yes, the man behind the “Skinner Box” approach to behavioral psychology. I bring him up because these days, you can’t even *talk* about “cognitive” psychology or therapy without its being some sort or variant of “cognitive behavioral” psychology or therapy. The fact that you bring up “thought suppression” in reference to this is the clue–these days too much of what’s called “cognitive” therapy is about coercing people, trying to browbeat them into not thinking, or into reflexively doubting and second-guessing everything they do think, versus working on what they actually think in a respectful way. Edit: The First Answerer has the basics right, ok, but within the context of application, a lot of the stuff real cognitive psychiatry does therapeutically does get thrown right out the window. People don’t talk or negotiate–checking for errors of logic and/or of emotional process is rare even. Which is a shame, as real,
