Anger Management and Counseling in Pasadena, CA.

Feeling out of control can be extremely distressing, destructive, and can have a lasting impact on your relationships with others. Learning how to manage your emotions and effectively deal with anger is an important goal, and one that can be accomplished through active participation in therapy. The goals is for our clients to leave therapy with the skills and confidence that they can manage the challenges that come with everyday life. Learning such skills will directly help with increasing the quality of your relationships and decrease the negative impact of your anger in areas such as work, school, and family difficulties. It can also potentially help avoid any negative legal outcomes.

I help people struggling with anger management by working with them to develop awareness of their anger experience in their body and mind and how it is impacting their body. I help you learn and practice strategies for regulating your body and mind so you do not lose control of the anger. I help you to learn healthy communication of anger, and the development of conflict resolution skills. I support you in exploring issues of transference from past relationships and experiences that may be contributing to your strong feelings of anger in present circumstances and relationships. We create safety, increase positive expression of anger, and reduce or eliminate sources of anger when possible!

Anger is actually quite useful and can give us a lot of information about how we are feeling. Anger is not really a feeling but a reaction to other feelings. It provides energy when we are not being treated well. It tells us when we are in pain or have been hurt. When we fearful we can become angry. When anger is not allowed to be expressed or goes on too long it is not healthy. Once you learn what anger is telling you and get in touch with the underlying feelings you can learn to manage anger appropriately.

Rightful anger has an important place in life where and when it must be expressed. However, there are many forms of anger that are internally destructive and can become externally dangerous to ourselves and others. Some forms of anger come from long term contentious relationships and occurrences which can never go away or decrease in pain and agitation. Some forms of anger are explosive on the moment and other anger comes as a gradual escalating irritation that then reaches its limits. Counseling serves to teach skills of anger management and can defuse and even prevent out of control anger from erupting. Counseling is known to be very effective for addressing and safely controlling anger.

Anger is not only something to "manage." The feelings in anger need to be recognized, understood, and responding to in a way that make sense. You're not bad because you are angry, you treat yourself and others badly when your trapped in intense feelings. I help people come out of the shame of being labeled in negative ways because they struggle with anger. Anger becomes less of a struggle when you're not alone in it.

Anger is a natural emotion resulting from events that happen in our lives; we all get angry which may stem from things within or outside of one's own control. Emotional regulation is key and I can help quell those rages with techniques and strategies so that my clients can learn what lies at the root of their anger which often includes frustration and rage as well. In this manner, they can identify triggers that ignite these rages & we can pinpoint effective coping mechanisms when they do arise. Research studies have shown that psychotherapy can significantly provide a positive impact on how an individual recognizes and works to deescalate their boiling points, reducing stress/anxiety.

Anger can be an ally and not a detriment. Individuals need to learn how they create and contribute to their feelings of anger and how to control the expressions of anger so it benefits them rather than hurts them. When a hose is leaking, you might need to turn off the power from the connection to the house, or you may need to relieve the pressure by adjusting the nozzle. Similarly, we all need to learn how we create excessive anger -- AND we need to learn how to control the expression of that anger.

Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D approaches issues of anger management in a very humane yet fresh perspective. You see, anger is a normal emotion but it is the valence (intensity) as well as the coupling choice of what one does with this that is the problem. Telling someone to "not" do it or modifying behavior with a trite psychological plan that only breeds a compliant response is not the way to change anger. Brainwave optimization is a new cutting edge technology that allows one to rewire circuitry responsible for reactivity driving the anger. Contact Grey Matters International, Inc now at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

Anger is a very strong emotion. Anger can be highly destructive in many aspects of a person's life. I would help clients to separate themselves from their anger, so that it does not have the power to define their identity or their relationships. I would also help clients to increase anger management skills by exploring the source of their anger, mapping the influence of their anger, identifying triggers, and exploring the progression of their anger. In addition, I would help enhance client relaxation strategies by practicing breathing techniques, mindfulness meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation.

We frequently offer courses on Anger Management and have several therapists that specialize in this area. Helping people struggling with anger requires a specialized approach to treatment so make sure you are talking to a therapist that specializes in this area if you are in need of help. Call us and our intake coordinator will have one of our anger management specialists give you a call.

Clients from various backgrounds take many different approaches to think about, feel and express anger. However, when anger negatively impacts one’s relationships, it is important to explore what is contributing to an unhealthy experience of anger. In my collaboration with clients, we venture out to explore the conscious and unconscious factors that may need to be brought to light, in the context of perhaps other biopsychosocial (biological, psychological or social) factors that may need attention. Clients who learn to understand, better identify and manage their impulses, cultivate insight and explore opportunities to practice developing skills to have an improved sense of self-mastery.