What is anger management? Anger is a natural emotion and one that can be a useful part of your emotional repertoire. When it becomes excessive or uncontrollable, however, it can have serious physical, emotional and social consequences, both for you and for those around you.
The aim of anger management therapy is to help you learn how to control your anger and to manage the symptoms of your anger issues and control your reactions. For example, when you get angry, your thinking can become very exaggerated and overly dramatic.
Excessive anger can stem from unprocessed experiences from your past, and integrating those feelings is an important long-term strategy in addition to managing the symptoms. These emotional responses can also be triggered in clients with a background of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar and mood disorders and depression.
There are many types of therapy that can help deal with anger management. Most are practical approaches that focus on emotional regulation and cognitive restructuring (such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)).
Mindfulness and relaxation techniques are useful in showing you how to control anger and help stay calm in the moment. Deeper approaches like psychotherapy may help you work on the underlying causes of anger.