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ANGER MANAGEMENT Anger is a powerful natural human emotion that everyone feels from time to time. The way in which you express anger can be helpful or harmful. Expressing anger properly can help you overcome obstacles and achieve goals. When you ignore anger or express it in a negative way, it is harmful. Uncontrolled anger can cause problems in all areas of a person's life and can result in strained or ended relationships with friends, family, or co-workers. Angry individuals may withdraw, sulk, and brood. After an angry flare-up, they often experience inner turmoil, anguish, and guilt about their actions. They tend to have lower self-esteem, greater anxiety, and more alcohol abuse than people who are less angry. Anger has also been seen as a factor in heart disease, elevated blood pressure, and cancer. Anger Management helps to understand the nature and triggers of angry reactions. Strategies taught in Anger Management include a varied set of behavioral and cognitive techniques: Relaxation Tools, such as deep breathing and relaxing imagery, can help calm down angry feelings. Once learned, these techniques can be called upon in any situation. If you are involved in a relationship where both partners are hot-tempered, it might be a good idea for both of you to learn these techniques. Cognitive Restructuring involves replacing exaggerated, overly dramatic thoughts with more rational ones. Problem Solving focuses on how you handle and face problems, rather than on how to find "the" correct solution. Listening carefully to what the other person is saying and taking your time before answering will prevent jumping to inaccurate (and often unnecessarily painful) conclusions. Avoidance of situations and environments that predictably "push your buttons" and finding alternatives are also very useful. |
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© 2005, Morris County Psychological Association |