Anger Management.
Anger that is out of control can be damaging to you and to your relationships. Fortunately, it is also one of the most easily treatable emotional conditions. With cognitive behavioural therapy you can learn how to change this pattern.
When people have problems with anger, they often experience anger as being explosive. It is as if things are going along ok and then, suddenly, the anger comes upon them in an instant. While this is how anger can feel, there is usually a build-up in anger that happens over time. This build up can happen over the course of a day, or it can happen over the course of minutes, seconds, or milliseconds. Usually, you are not aware of the anger building, but that can be changed.
When you come to therapy for anger issues, the core focus of our work together is developing an awareness of how the anger builds up in you. In effect, you are learning how to slow down time, so that everything happens in slow motion. You will notice how your body sensations change, how your thoughts change, and how your feelings change in the period when anger is building (even if the period is only seconds). Being able to slow down time is a powerful tool in helping you understand and change your anger reaction.
Once you are able to recognize the patterns developing that lead up to anger, you will learn how to make changes to those patterns on the fly, preventing the anger explosion. You may still be angry about the things that bothered you before, but how you deal react will change, resulting in better feelings about yourself and more peaceful relationships with the people you love and the people you work with.
Reducing the angry feelings in general is another part of working with this emotion. Changing the angry feelings is deeper work that involves uncovering and healing the unresolved issues that caused anger to begin with. You can learn to change how you think about situations that make you angry. You can learn mindfulness techniques that help you feel calmer. It also important to learn how to be compassionate for yourself and for others. If you live in the Cowichan Valley and want to learn how to manage your anger, click on the “book now” button and set up an appointment through my online booking system.
Other issues I work with include:
