Don’t Waste Your Anger!


What makes you angry? Disrespect, loud noises, unfriendly, self-centered people, put-downs, rude behavior, people who break the rules? Anger is normal and it is an energy which can help you accomplish goals. But, if you can’t detect your anger in the early stages – you may find yourself over-reacting when something or someone triggers you. When that happens — you’ve wasted your energy and your anger!

Question:

Awhile ago I cut somebody off in traffic and this person was upset. This person pulled up beside me at the next traffic light and I apologized but this person wasn’t having it. They started swearing and threatening me and usually in the past I would get out and this person would be eating through a straw for the next month. I couldn’t help myself but to start getting angry and yelling comments back at this person. Eventually we just drove on. Any advice to help me keep my anger under control next time? Anon

Answer–

Maybe you are dealing with guilt and wishing you had handled the situation with a ‘cool head’. What if you had done something differently and had been more aware of your own anger and triggers? We teach that — Anger is a normal emotion which can be redirected into healthy thinking and skills in order to achieve healthy goals.

Self-awareness: How about writing out the road rage event and identifying what you were thinking. Most likely, you had “hot self-talk”. Hot self-talk will cause you to react more angrily than you normally would. Maybe you began saying to yourself- “I can’t let him/her disrespect and humiliate me that way!” “I’m going to tell him off!”, etc. It’s time to start thinking differently.

How about considering what is going on with that other person. Maybe he/she has a mental problem or has had a very stressful day. Maybe you could have counted to ten and just kept silent knowing that yelling was not going to help and actually could escalate the situation.  How about telling yourself that “this person isn’t going to get my goat.” or putting yourself in their shoes. There’s a reason they got so mad – that doesn’t mean it was justified or acceptable but, you did cut them off.

The problem is that you could have provoked that person more with your rage. Your outburst may have incited you (or him) to cause physical harm.

When someone gets that enraged- it’s best to back off for your own protection. You don’t want the other person to control how you feel/act. He can’t think straight. You can’t think straight and you won’t solve the issue then. Road rage – any kind of rage – leads to violence. You don’t need to become one of it’s victims or end up in jail.

Write it out:
What physical feeling did I sense? (flushed face, knot in stomach, tense muscles, tightness in neck/chest, etc.)
What I thought (hot self-talk) –
How I acted (unhealthy behavior)-
What else could I think instead (calming thoughts)?
How else could I have responded (assertive/empathic action)?
How could I have used my anger in a healthy way?

Then, try out the new calming thoughts and healthy action the next time you get angry or someone provokes you.. Write out the consequences. What happened afterward? How did it affect you and others?
A healthier response will empower you to take control of yourself (thoughts and actions) so you don’t waste your anger!

© copyright 2021 Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V
CounselCare Connection, P.C. – Anger Management Institute
1200 Harger Rd. Sutie 602, Oak Brook, IL 60523
630-368-1880

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Anger Flare-ups!

Question: I will say that I do understand how to normally deal with anger, but what I’m trying to illuminate is that it seems to be flaring up a lot more often than what I consider to be normal for myself. I’m more frequently becoming instantly agitated or irritated by things that are, in essence, trivial, and a lot more irritated than what I’d consider normal even under aggravating circumstances. (E.G. sometimes I feel inclined to fiercely curse aloud when I misplace my keys, etc.) It’s like these days I have to exert even more effort to maintain the same level of control that I’ve always had.I’m pleased to admit that I don’t ever get angry with people or direct/displace my anger towards people. So, I do seem to at least have perfect control in social situations; I suppose I simply need to relax more around inanimate objects or something. Any suggestions?

Answer:

You may find stress management and changing your self-talk very helpful as it defuses the physiological response to anger triggers. Anger triggers the amygdala in the brain within 1/20th of a second.

Here are some steps and strategies:
1. Find out your triggers.
2. What do you say to yourself which tends to inflate anger? “I can’t believe I did that again!”, “life’s so unfair!” or “I’m not to let him/her get away with that” or “that’s so rude. I’ll pay him/her back.”
3. How can you change your self-talk? “so, I did it again. I’ll try to find a regular place to put my keys.” or “that person is having a bad day” or “I’m not going to lose my cool so I look like a fool”, etc.
4. Take a time-out/break and try to prevent or avoid triggers and think through how to solve the problem or be more assertive.
5. Learning deep breathing and relaxation is important to help decrease and interrupt your physiological response to angry situations.

Remember: The more you rehearse anger – the more it grows. And the more anger controls you. I believe you do have anger management skills. Since you do work on incorporating them into new situations. Hang in there. With determination – you will change!

© 2021 by Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V

Lynette Hoy, NCC, LCPC, Certified Anger Management Specialist-V
1200 Harger Rd., Suite 602
Oak Brook, IL 60523

630-368-1880

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4 Q’s to Disarming Anger

Listen to the “Quick Tips for Managing Anger” podcast: Episodes:
Feb. 2021: 4 Q’s to Disarming Anger – (MP3 format) 7min. 20 sec.
Download (audio/mpeg, 6.75 Mb)
Description: What can you do to stop harmful anger and it’s consequences? Here are some helpful questions and tips for developing self-control and relationships!

Jan. 2021: Growing with Anger & Violence – (MP3 format) 10 min. 5 sec.
download (audio/mpeg, 9.7Mb)

Description: Children often grow up in homes of high conflict and out-of-control anger. What are the consequences? How can you help?Visit the What’s Good About Anger Institute for our FAQs, All About Anger Blog and podcasts which will teach you healthy anger management skills for relationships. Anger can be an overwhelming emotion that makes us feel like we have no control over it. Discover tools which will empower you to cope with stress and anger in healthy and effective ways.Quick Tips for Managing Anger is a show about how deal with anger effectively and practically.

Throughout the week Lynette Hoy, Anger Management Specialist, presents insights and skills for managing anger. You can learn to change unhealthy anger into a positive force which accomplishes something good for yourself and others! No more yelling, swearing, manipulating or giving the ‘cold shoulder’. Train yourself to turn anger into faith, assertiveness, problem-solving, empathy and forgiveness! As a result you will find that life and relationships are much more safisfying!

To subscribe to the free Quick Tips podcasts – just click on this feedburner link or listen on the apple site here. Then, download all the episodes to your ipod or MP3 player- and “podcast your way to managing anger”.

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Tips for Preventing Post-Holiday Anger..

Are you the victim of Post-Holiday Anger?

The holidays are times when people tend to get stressed out, emotional, feel lonely and angry. Why? Because we expect to feel happy during the holidays. We want to feel close to others and satified with our lives. The expectations, the stress, regrets, partying and memories lead to negative feelings and self-talk. When the holidays are over – we wish our get togethers with family and friends had gone better. We wish COVID was no longer a problem.

How can you prevent and deal with post-holiday stress and anger?

1. Don’t drink to drown your feelings. Drinking only increases negative feelings and heightens anger. Alcohol has a disinhibiting effect on the body and on your brain. Alcohol will seem to soothe the troubles you have but, only temporarily. Alcohol clouds  judgment and thus, you will act out your raw emotions without processing them cognitively.

2. Don’t relive the past. Holidays tend to bring up the past – regrets and losses you have experienced. It’s ok to process these events in a healthy way such as expressing your feelings to others but, ruminating on them can be disasterous. It will lead to depression and anger. You can’t do anything about the past – but, you can do something to help move you into the future in a positive way.

3. Take care of yourself and you will take care of your anger.
Reduce the stress in your life.
Increase exercise and nutrition.
Grow positive, healthy relationships.
Learn to communicate assertively and respectfully.
Plan a new goal in your life – take a class, learn a craft or sport.
Accept that life is hard but, determine to meet it’s challenges.
Develop your faith.
Understand your anger – it’s triggers, when it is normal and valid and
apply the problem-solving and anger management skills from What’s Good About Anger.

Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V
Diplomate, NAMA; President, CounselCare Connection, P.C.
Anger Management Institute blog, courses, training  podcasts and resources

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Anger and Aggression….

Question:
When someone starts calling me names or taunting me, it winds me up very easily. Especially when they say things that I feel hit a nerve. Things like saying I have no friends, that I’m weird or a loner, the one that gets to me quickest is when they mention that I don’t have a girlfriend or worse still, if they ask me where she is (I’ve not dated anyone since my girl killed herself a few years ago).

The worst part of it is that the closer the person is to me, the worse I react. If I don’t care about someone’s opinion or the person in general I’ll just ignore them but the people I care about end up being the ones I’ll take it out on. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s like I focus all my aggression on myself and my close friends. More myself than anyone else. I’d probably be dead already had I not read about using ice instead of razors to mimic cutting instead of actually doing it a while back. I find myself wanting to attack people when they say bad things about me, but the things they say are true, so I take it out on myself. It’s better that way. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but when they push me to a certain point it’s almost like I’m just watching myself do it.

Answer:
Dear Friend,
It’s normal to feel badly when someone puts you down or disrespects you. We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
But, you need to work on feeling confident about yourself and how to express your feelings and responses in healthy and assertive ways to those people.
Here are some ideas:
1. Change your self-talk to: “that person may be trying to get my goat – but, I’m not going to let him/her.” “I’m going to tell that person how I feel and that they should not be talking disrespectfully to me.”

2. Take a break: “I’m going to take a breather and think about how to respond to that person later.” Taking a time-out will give your body time to cool-down and the frontal cortex of your brain time to start taking over the emotional (amydala) portion of your brain which wants to lash out.

3. Consider going to counseling to work through the self-mutilation, low self-esteem, grief and other issues you are dealing with. When you feel badly about yourself – you will emotionally overreact to put-downs.
See the directory of counselors at:  www.counselcareconnection.org ,
www.aacc.net and www.nbcc.org

4. Learn some anger management skills to help you cope with these situations. See www.whatsgoodaboutanger.com for FAQs, Quick Tips for Managing Anger Podcasts and the All About Anger blog.
_________________
Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V, Certified Anger Management Specialist-V
What’s Good About Anger podcasts, blog, resources

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Defusing Anger & Rage- dealing with COVID-19

Question:

I hate what is going on in the world today! The COVID-19 pandemic has me so scared about going outside…But I also feel enraged that my family and I have to endure this! This has caused so much stress in my life and now I may lose my job. I find myself feeling on edge and irritable all the time. I worry about how people will treat me and whether they will disregard my feelings. Of course, now I feel a sense of loneliness too.
I just hope that I’ll be able to control my rage cause my patience is wearing dangerously thin. When I snap there will be requiem to pay. Any suggestions for how to deal with this? Struggling

Answer:

Dear Struggling Friend, I wonder if you would be willing to start changing yourself? You can’t change this situation we are in with the pandemic and you can’t change others or the way they treat you. What about working on building your confidence, finding coping skills to deal with stress and finding ways for controlling your anger? Actually, concentrating on yourself and finding ways to adapt to this highly stressful situation will help defuse your anger.
I have met people who have taken this time of quarantine to study and get certifications or to connect with others virtually.
The pandemic is out of our control but you can follow the guidelines, pray and move forward in your life and relationships even with the restrictions. Don’t let fear control your mind and actions.

Maybe anticipating the What If ? questions which run through your mind and how people will treat you is triggering anger and anxiety prior to any stressful event occurring.

Triggers: We discuss two types of cognitive triggers (podcast) in the book: What’s Good About Anger?.

One is when a stressful event occurs which actually triggers your thinking and anger because someone has disappointed or frustrated you by what they have done or not done. The other is when you anticipate someone will disappoint or frustrate you or something will go wrong – that thinking is the real trigger for your angry feelings.

Expect disappointment but, don’t let it overwhelm you. Life and people will disappoint us and let us down. That’s a fact. Maybe you have suffered from some abuse or discrimination. But, you are valuable. You have talents and a unique personality and gifts. You have a God-given purpose for living! Because of these and other reasons – the difficulties imposed on us during the pandemic and the way people treat you should not control how you feel about yourself, your life or your emotional response.

It’s normal to react with anger when someone disrespects or humiliates you. But, how they treat you should not cause you to overreact, feel shameful about yourself or insignificant. It’s when you lose value in yourself that you will react angrily.

Don’t let anyone control how you respond. Think this way instead:
1. “I can’t be certain that I will be treated negatively – I should just give them the benefit of the doubt”
2. “Maybe they are having a bad day”
3. “This isn’t worth losing my cool over”
4. “I may deserve to be treated better but, I’m not going to let this person trigger my anger”
5. “I’m going to take a time out to think over how to respond and then, come back to this person”.
6. “I’ve got better things to deal with now”
7. “Don’t pass a judgment on them – he/she doesn’t understand what he/she’s doing”
8. “I’m going to let this one pass. It’s not worth getting angry over.”
9. How can I adapt to this crisis? What can I do to keep myself calm and manage stress? What skills can I build on? How can I communicate my needs more clearly with respect? How can I grow spiritually during this time? What can I do to connect with and help others during this time?

Rise above this crisis and any trigger or scenario by changing your thinking, developing your emotional intelligence, increasing your self-esteem, growing in your faith and anger management skills.


© copyright 2020 by Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V; President, Anger Management Institute blog, podcasts and resources

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Flying Off the Handle with Anger…

Question: Hi, I have a problem. About every six to eight months I seem to fly off the handle. Every time my wife gets an order of protection against me to stay away from her and our 9 year old daughter. I break things in the house, throw things around. I never hit her or the daughter. About 5 months ago I started going to the shrink for help and he told me I have bipolar. but I dont think so, I think its anger or intermittent explosive diorder. I’m alittle better than I was. I used to go off on a lot of things. I dont know what to do anymore, I have to get better for me and everyone involved. please help. thanks  

Answer: Dear Friend, I suggest you schedule anger management coaching/counseling and resources. See also http://www.whatsgoodaboutanger.com/ for resources and articles which will help you deal with the anger.

Issues and Triggers:

Most likely, you have issues beneath the surface which need to be explored but, you also need to become aware of triggers and stressors precipitating your anger, new coping skills to manage anger, and what thinking patterns may be contributing to your anger.

Log some of the situations which recently caused you to feel angry and fly off the handle. What were the triggers? What happened and what were you thinking? Did you catastrophize the situation? Did you jump to false conclusions or personalize the situation? Were you stressed out by something else?

Distorted thinking and false beliefs such as: “I deserve to be treated…” or “I am entitled to…” contribute to anger escalation. If you can begin to control the hot self-talk and challenge your thinking with reality and truth – your angry emotions will defuse. Taking a Time-out is one of the best ways to control your anger.

Our resources teach various coping skills for managing anger.

Mental Health treatment: Since your psychiatrist thinks you have bipolar disorder – I suggest you follow his recommendations for counseling and medication. Bipolar disorder does have a chemical/physiological basis and needs to be treated as such. Also, counseling can help give you perspective on your life, help you express your feelings and teach to healthy ways to cope with anger.

Since you have abusive tendencies – I suggest you read and order some of the resources found at: Safe Relationships. Listen to the following podcasts on managing anger:

Is it Anger or Abuse?
How do you know when someone is just angry or is being abusive? Here are some insights to help you recognize anger and how abuse and battering are so different.
Click to listen  to:
Talk Yourself Out of Anger!
It’s hard to believe that what you say to yourself can actually trigger and escalate your anger! Learn how to defuse anger through some simple self-talk messages!
Click to listen

© copyright 2020 by Lynette J. Hoy, NCC, LCPC, CAMS-V

Certified Anger Management Specialist-V, Diplomate, Consultant Traiber with the National Anger Management Association. President, Anger Management Institute and CounselCare Connection, P.C.
Anger Management Institute site, blog, podcasts and resources

 

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Is it Anger or Abuse?

People are often confused – wondering what the difference is between anger and abuse?  Anger can result in rage, put-downs and violent acts. Isn’t this kind of behavior the same as abuse? *You can listen to this Quick Tips for Managing Anger podcast here: Is it Anger or Abuse?

Let’s consider some definitions of anger:
We’ve described anger as an aversive state ranging from annoyance to rage. Anger is a strong feeling of displeasure & antagonism or indignation. It’s an automatic reaction to any real or imagined insult, frustration, or injustice.
When someone puts you down – your initial  feelings of humiliation are turned into anger –an emotional reaction needing to be expressed. So, anger is ultimately a combination of physiological, emotional and cognitive responses to certain triggers.

When you’re angry – you can be angry at anything – yourself, God, others, situations, events, unmet goals and needs.

In contrast, Domestic abuse generally occurs within intimate relationships. Here’s an example…

Hello I am a teen-ager, I have a boyfriend I have been with for 3 years and a 10 months old little boy by my boyfriend. I Love my boyfriend with all of my heart and I know people think that teens aren’t really in love when they think they are, but trust me this is love. but anyways he smokes dope and when we get into really bad arguments he hits on me, not like punching me he like – slaps me across the face burns me with his cigarette, bites me. I have tried to break up with him but it doesn’t do me any good because my parents let him come around. I am always wearing bruises, and am always depressed,…please help me ..I have nobody to talk to.

So, What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic abuse or violence is a pattern of physical and psychological abuse, threats, intimidation, isolation or economic coercion used by one person to exert power and control over another person in the context of a dating, family, or household relationship.
Domestic Abuse involves – battering:
Battering is a pattern of behavior which often uses the threat of or the use of violence. One person believes they are entitled to control another. Assault, battering and domestic violence are crimes.

In Why Men Batter Women – John Gottman and Neil Jacobson write:
“Battering is physical aggression with a purpose: that purpose is to control, intimidate, and subjugate another human being. Battering is always accompanied by emotional abuse, is often accompanied by injury, and is virtually always associated with fear and even terror on the part of the battered woman.”

Domestic Abuse and domestic  violence are never healthy and never helpful.

Conversely, anger is an emotion that can be expressed in healthy behaviors such as: assertiveness, problem-solving, negotiation, conflict management, empathy, etc.  So, you see that not all anger is wrong.
Anger is a problem: When it is too frequent, too intense, lasts too long, leads to aggression, disturbs work or relationships

Abuse is Always a problem. In fact, there is no excuse for abuse! Why? Because abuse seeks to denigrate, control or destroy another person.

Here’s another real-life story of abuse: “my friend needs help to get away from her husband he already been put away in jail but as soon as he got out it starts all over again. She has an order of protection and the police told her because she has been seen with him they will get the department of family services involved because there are children involved. This man has threatened to kill her and has done many violent things and will go after the children. She really does not know what to do he is extremely dangerous everyone knows what going on but we don’t know how to help.

Here are the 3 types of Domestic abuse:

Physical Battering – The abuser’s physical attacks or aggressive behavior can range from bruising to murder. It often begins with what is excused as trivial contacts which escalate into more frequent and serious attacks.

Sexual Abuse – Physical attack by the abuser is often accompanied by, or  culminates in, sexual violence wherein the woman is forced to have sexual   intercourse with her abuser or take part in unwanted sexual activity.

Psychological Battering -The abuser’s psychological or mental violence can include constant verbal abuse, harassment, excessive possessiveness, isolating the woman from friends and family, deprivation of physical and economic  resources, and destruction of personal property.

Statistics demonstrate that Battering escalates. It often begins with behaviors like threats, name calling, violence in her presence (such as punching a fist through a wall), and/or damage to objects or pets. It  may escalate to restraining, pushing, slapping, and/or pinching. The battering may include punching, kicking, biting, sexual assault, tripping, throwing. Finally, it may become  life-threatening with serious behaviors such as choking, breaking bones, or the use of  weapons.” Resource: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

In describing the reasons that Men Batter Women – Gottman and Jacobson write:

Studies have demonstrated that the batterer begins and continues his behavior because violence is an effective method for gaining and keeping control over the victim bringing no adverse effects as the result of the behavior.

What are some characteristics of batterers? Typically, since batterers are men – they objectify and don’t  see women as people. They don’t respect women as a group. Overall, they see women as property or sexual objects.
A batterer has low self-esteem and feels powerless and ineffective in the world. He may appear successful, but inside he feels inadequate.
A batterer externalizes the causes of his behavior. He blames his violence on circumstances such as stress, his partner’s behavior, a “bad day,” alcohol or other factors. A batterer may be pleasant and charming between periods of violence, and is often seen as a “nice guy” to outsiders.
Some behavioral warning signs of a potential batterer include extreme jealousy, possessiveness, a bad temper, unpredictability, cruelty to animals and verbal abusiveness.
Because of these characteristics authorities believe that true batterer will benefit more from a Batterers Intervention Program than an. anger management program.
Though some of the goals of domestic abuse and AM programs are similar such as: accepting responsibility for consequences and applying behavioral changes—  BIP focus on changing the batterer’s power/control mindset – networking with law enforcement to help provide for the safety of victims.
Visit http://www.saferelationships.net/ and http://www.compassionpower.com/ for more information on abuse and anger management issues.
If you are in an abusive relationship contact the National Domestic Violence Agency at : 1-800-799-7233 or ndvh.org for resources.

Visit the Anger Management Institute for books, resources, podcasts, blogs, DVDs, certificate and trainer courses.
© copyright 2019 by Lynette Hoy, Licensed Clinical Professional  Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Certified Anger Management Specialist-V with NAMA and President of the Anger Management Institute.

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