Everybody gets angry once in a while. Even though anger is a normal, healthy emotion, holding onto it for too long can cause a psychological barrier that prevents people from participating happily in most areas of their lives. When someone finds it difficult to move past feelings of anger, and the anger has started to interfere with their ability to maintain employment, healthy relationships, or personal happiness, anger management therapy can help.
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Among many other life skills, anger management therapy teaches patients how to recognize the signs that they’re anger is building. From there they learn techniques that will help them remain calm in situations that make them tense up, dealing with issues that usually trigger their anger in a productive way.
Following are a few common signs of an anger management problem.
- Living in a persistent state of negativity
- Threats of violence against property or people
- Constant feelings of impatience, irritation and hostility
- Regularly argumentative with others, leading to escalated frustrations
- Constantly attempting to suppress your anger which will make matters worse eventually
- Physically violent behaviors, for example, starting fights, hitting children or your partner
- Avoiding social activities out of fear that you’ll have an angry outburst.
- Frightening, out of control behavior, for example driving recklessly or breaking things.
What to Expect
In most cases, anger management counseling focuses on learning behavioral skills and positive ways of thinking that make it possible to cope with anger so that it doesn’t run your life. If you have any other psychological conditions, including anxiety, depression or substance abuse, you’ll probably need to work on these issues as well for the anger management process to be effective.
Learning Behavioral Skills
An essential part of anger management is learning behavioral skills. While there are a lot books and online resources that can help, treatment will work a lot faster, and more effective, if you work with a professional anger management counselor. It’s hands down the best approach. While you can learn how to identify stressors on your own with a significant amount of research, learning from, and being accountable to, a professional achieves the best results. You’ll learn skills that will help you deal with tense situations and take the necessary steps to remain centered and calm, in a positive, constructive setting. Anger management classes or therapy for anger management can be carried out on a one on one basis or in a group setting. The setting, number of sessions, and how long they are will vary, depending on the counselor, the program and your specific needs.
Improving your ability to manage anger has several benefits. You’ll feel as if you have more control when life’s many challenges turn up the heat. Learning how to express yourself without anger means you won’t need to deal with the frustration of suppressing your anger to avoid offending others.
If you or someone you love is struggling with anger issues, give us a call or fill out the form to schedule a complimentary consultation. We’re here to help.
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