Anger Management Counseling Strategies
Anger is actually an evolved and useful response in the vast majority of cases. In the wild we would have used anger in order to encourage ourselves to stand up to aggressors and to find extra strength and determination where previously we might not have had any. Likewise we can use anger to intimidate and to protect, and today anger still has a use in this capacity.
However at the same time, society has changed since we lived in caves and many things that would have been acceptable during our evolution are simply maladaptive now. If someone stares at your partner you can’t just go up to them and punch them, and likewise if you’re experiencing road rage this can be dangerous, antisocial and non constructive.
That’s where anger management counseling strategies come in to help you deal with any anger you might be feeling and to deal with your temper in a more constructive manner. There are many different forms of anger management counseling strategies however, and the ones that work for each person will depend on the nature of that person and their anger. Likewise there are different ‘schools’ of psychology that utilize different strategies in order to address the issue based on different views regarding the functioning of the human mind.
Perhaps the most popular form of anger management today though is the school of ‘CBT’ or ‘Cognitive Behavioral Therapy’. This basically looks at the thoughts we are having, the way our mind works, and how this in turn dictates our thoughts and emotions. Often we will ruminate on one subject for instance and this can cause us to become angrier. It is not the event that really dictates the anger in this case, but rather the thoughts surrounding the anger. This is one reason that we often feel most angry about something when we come away from the situation. After an incident on the road for instance you might start thinking ‘what right did they have to be there?’, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t say anything!’ etc and all this would make you more angry throughout the day when it’s too late to act.
CBT uses what’s called ‘cognitive restructuring’ and this means changing the way you think about something. This starts with something called ‘mindfulness’ which is a form of meditation wherein you ‘listen’ to the nature of your thoughts and remember to note what’s going through your head. This then allows you to identify the all important damaging thoughts that are causing your anger, and from here you can then go on to change the way you think and to eliminate that anger. So you make an effort to think after the event ‘there’s nothing I can do about it now’ and ‘they will likely come a cropper eventually’ and this will help to placate yourself and prevent your negative thoughts. You can repeat these phrases like mantra (positive affirmations) and eventually you will find that they start to replace your natural tendency to work yourself up. This is only one method and there are many more anger management counseling strategies, often revolving around giving you the skills you need to manage your anger.
There are lots of different methods to help manage anger, including online counseling. I have used this before, when working with and anger management Melbourne counselor.
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