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Anger management is neither counseling nor psychotherapy. It’s an intervention that teaches skills in managing anger, stress, improving communications and developing
capacity to be more empathetic.
When it comes to dealing with anger,
first step is awareness; awareness of what tends to trigger intense feelings in you. When you can anticipate what is likely to occur in those situations, you can step back and take stock of
situation. Take a mental time out in which you allow yourself some time to reflect and think of
best course of action, one that will not be harmful to you or
other party.
Another important way to handle anger is self talk. This is extremely important and learning to tell yourself positive things can help you get a different perspective on
situation. Tell yourself you have a lot more to live for than
other person and find a way to detach from
other person. Other things you can say are “I don’t need to prove myself in this situation, I can stay calm.” Or “As long as I keep cool I’m in control of myself.” “I need to take time to relax and slow things down.” “The only thing I can control is myself and how I express my feelings.”
So many people get angry because they’re trying to get another person to change; their partner, their parents or boss. The fact is that it’s impossible to make other people change. They will only change if they want to. When you change your approach and you communicate differently it pulls different behavior from
other person and it completely changes
style of interaction.
Taking responsibility for yourself and your own feelings is critical at home. Especially in relationships, partners will start escalating each other and before long you have a major conflict. Both people think they’re right and justified in how they’re feeling and behaving. There’s no end of triggers or reasons to make you angry. At some point you have to take responsibility in order to start changing
pattern.
Anger is a normal human emotion. If one does not experience anger then it is not possible to experience joy, love or any other emotion. The problem is not to rid oneself of anger, but to manage anger in such a way that leads to a positive outcome for yourself and others.
