Anger Management Treatment
What Is Anger?
All human beings experience anger in one way or another. Everyone knows what anger is, they have felt it and experienced it in its various forms, such as a fleeting annoyance or as a full-fledged rage. Anger is a completely normal and usually a healthy human emotion. Anger is considered “normal” because everyone experiences it. However, when one loses control of anger it can lead to multiple problems: problems at work, problems with significant others, and overall problems with one’s quality of life. “It can make you feel as though you're at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion” (APA). Therefore, our Anger Management program is meant to help you understand and control anger.
Anger can mask itself in a passive aggressive form or an all-out rage, it can even be found in a fully controlled sinless state (such the case with Jesus in Matthew 21:12-13). No matter what the case is, anger is unavoidable. Anger can be caused by both external and internal events. “You could be angry with a specific person (such as a coworker or supervisor) or event (a traffic jam or a canceled flight), or your anger could be caused by worrying or brooding about your personal problems. Memories of traumatic or enraging events can also trigger angry feelings” (Nature of Anger, 2004).
Raymond W. Novaco (2000) in his essay “Anger,” published in the Encyclopedia of Psychology defines anger as:
A negatively toned emotion, subjectively experienced as an aroused state of antagonism toward someone or something perceived to be the source of an aversive event. It is triggered or provoked situationally by events that are perceived to constitute deliberate harm doing by an instigator toward oneself or toward those to whom one is endeared (p. 170).
Other definitions of anger include words like: rage, revenge, hatred, submission, and the like. No matter what words or definitions are used to define anger the central theme is the same, anger is an emotional reaction or feeling that can strongly impact one’s present emotional state in a negative form. The instinctive, most natural way, to express and experience anger is to lash out or respond aggressively. However, it is imperative that we remember anger is natural – this point cannot be reiterated enough. When individuals are attacked or threatened it is normal to become aggressive in both feelings and behaviors. Anger is an emotion that grants us the ability to defend ourselves or to ward off danger. Therefore, a certain amount of anger is necessary in order for us to survive in today’s world.
The goal of our anger management program is to help you reduce and control both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that leads to your anger. Since you can't get rid of anger or avoid it, the only option you have is to learn to control your anger. At the same time, you do not have the option of getting rid of people that enrage or perturb you, therefore you must learn to live with people who “press your buttons” and “trigger” your anger. Remember, anger is an emotion that every human being will experience regularly. There are psychological tests that measure the intensity of angry feelings, how prone to anger you are, and how well you handle it. But chances are good that if you do have a problem with anger, you already know it. If you find yourself acting in ways that seem out of control and frightening, you might need help finding better ways to deal with this emotion.
When an individual begins to understand why he or she is expressing anger in a certain manor, he or she is beginning to recognize the “trigger,” or the event that is leading him or her to express anger violently or passively. As individuals begin to understand their “triggers,” they can begin to develop healthy ways of processing the anger before it escalates into an all-out rage or suppressed emotion.
Unexpressed anger is a very common way people experience anger. Most often when people think of anger, they think of rage, this is a common misunderstanding. Unexpressed anger can be just as or more devastating than expressed anger. It can lead to pathological expressions of anger, such as passive-aggressive behavior (getting back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them head-on) or a personality that seems perpetually cynical and hostile. People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything and making cynical comments haven't learned how to constructively express their anger.
Although, helping individuals to process anger is necessary, we believe that anger management with married couples has been neglected by both research and group counseling. Mismanaged anger and rage is the major cause of conflict in our personal and professional relationships. Domestic abuse, road rage, workplace violence, divorce, and addiction are just a few examples of what happens when anger is mismanaged. Many couples get married without ever talking about the various ways they have witnessed anger being expressed or how they have learned how to express their anger.
Anger Management Topics
Getting out of pain now is always the main focus of solution oriented therapy, so it is usually brief. Some people may need only one session; others, more, but you are always in charge of deciding how many sessions you want. Individual Counseling
The topics that are covered in our 12-session Anger Management Program:
Session 1: The roots of anger
Session 2: The cycle of abuse
Session 3: What is my anger telling me?
Session 4: How to be mindful
Session 5: Emotion regulation
Session 6: Tolerating the distresses in life
Session 7: Understanding your needs
Session 8: Healthy boundaries
Session 9: Getting your needs met
Session 10: Interpersonal Skills
Session 11: Communication and Assertiveness Skills
Session 12: Relapse Prevention
Begin Your Journey Today!
To contact us to setup a session for anger management by filling out our "Contact" form or by calling us
at
303-933-5800.