New PathsDan Garcia, LCSW
Anger Management
I don' even like the term 'Anger Management'. I prefer using "Emotional Regulation". You are more than just your anger and often times, the best treatment will focus on a broad range of emotions. If you struggle controlling your anger, you are at the right place. Read below to learn why most anger management programs are missing one key ingredient.
What is Missing with Most Anger Management Programs Today
If you perform a simple google search you will find articles from the APA (American Psychological Association) on Anger Control and the Mayo Clinic 10 Tips to Control Anger. However if you look at these in detail, the APA says things like "learn how to relax", think differently, communicate better, use humor. The Mayo Clinic recommends to "think before you speak", "get some exercise", "take a timeout", "use 'I' statements". These are all good suggestions, but what each of these suggestions fail to do is to look at the SOURCE OF YOUR ANGER. If you wan't a more permanent solution to your anger, you must find the roots of your anger.
How My Approach is Different
I don't give generic advice, like the ones above. I ask you detailed questions about your life so that we together identify the source of your anger. Many times, identifying the source of your anger can reduce your overall feeings of intense anger. So rather than relying on your raw discipline, I help you to reduce your overall anger by finding it's source.
Finding the Source of Your Anger
You may have done a little investigation into your anger and got closer to the root cause of your anger. For example, you come home from work and yell at your spouse because the dishes are not done. So after you calm down, you realized that you had a bad day at work where you boss reprimanded you for a mistake you don't even believe was your fault.
I will help you dig even deeper. For example, one client was very irritable. He was getting way more upset than normal. He was losing patience with people in his home and at work. When I asked him a series of questions, he revealed that his best friend died and he never dealt with it. As we spent weeks processing through his grief, his anger lessened and lessened until it was no longer an issue.
I’ll never tell you to just suck it up and control your anger, we find the roots of your problem and find a permanent solution to your anger, rather than providing a temporary fix.
What You Can Overcome With Quality Therapy
- Identify the surface triggers to your anger, like wife not doing the dishes in the example above.
- Explore other emotions underlying your anger, that may help to reveal the true source of your anger
- Identify and process through the true source of your anger, like a person's best friend's death in the example above.
- While all that work is being done, then I also give some generic advice like the one's mentioned from the APA and the Mayo Clinic as stated above.
Call Me for a Free 15 Minute Phone Consultation or to Set Up an Appointment!
Learn to take control of your anger. Stop letting anger ruin the quality of your work and relationships. Contact me for a 15 minute free consultation today to discuss how I can assist in you through regulating your emotions.
Contact Dan