The role of affect in counseling has been examined from several orientations. The depth of processing model views the efficiency of information processing as a function of the extent to which the information is processed. The notion of cognitive processing capacity states that processing information at deeper levels engages more of one's limited cognitive processing capacity. The cognitive network theory posits that one's cognitive networks contain knowledge and memories connected through associative pathways. Some studies have shown that depressed individuals do not process as deeply as nondepressed individuals; others have shown the opposite effect. Differences have been found in the cognitive processes of depressives and nondepressives in the areas of problem solving abilities, attributional style, recall of feedback, expectancy changes following success and failure, self-perception of social competence, and recall of reinforcement and punishment histories. It has been theorized that depression can reduce an individual's task relevant processing and can produce a differential allocation of processing resources during the task. Research has shown that emotion influences such cognitive processes as free association, imaginative fantasies, social perceptions, and snap judgments about other's personalities. Depression may prime an individual to deeply process negative information to the exclusion of more positive information. A review of the literature suggests that eliciting negative feelings in some clients may encourage central processing of relevant information and eventual resolution of problems. (NRB)