ANGER MANAGEMENT

In our anger management program we teach our clients ways to observe and accept their anger and develop strategies to experience their anger differently. Our motto is "no matter how high and how stormy your anger is, there are always strategies that will allow you to remain on top of it and manage it better".

Explore Your Anger.
We will explore with you what makes you angry and how you experience anger. This involves uncovering your triggers of anger, and your physical, behavioural, emotional and cognitive (thinking) reactions.

Recognise Your Warning Signs.
We will teach you how to recognise the early warning signs of anger. It is generally easier to to change your behaviour when you are prepared and when you know that an episode of anger is about to happen. To do this, we will explore the different cues that signal anger and how to prepare for them.

Accept Your Anger.
We will work with you towards an acceptance of anger. This is not the same as "giving in" to anger or "giving up" the fight with anger. This stage is about accepting that anger is a normal human emotion and accepting that you will get angry from time to time. We will also work with you towards making a commitment that you will relate to your anger differently.

Coping Skills.
We will teach you techniques to cope with frustration and anger. These techniques include better understanding and appreciation of your anger related thinking, self-awareness training, adjusting your self-talk, relaxation strategies, coping with provocation and various behavioural strategies. Rather than using a "blanket approach", we will explore techniques that you feel comfortable with and strategies that will likely work for you.

Preventing Relapse.
We will work with you on strategies that will ensure that you don't return to earlier stages of anger experiences. If you expressed your anger inappropriately for a long time you may find it difficult to apply new strategies at first. When you learn new ways to express and relate to your anger it always feels like an accomplishment. But "old habits die hard" and often all is needed is one strong trigger to elicit habitual ways of anger expressions. We will teach you strategies that will help you cope with such situations and maintain what you gained through our anger management program.