Anger Management and Counselling in Greater Napanee, ON.

Anger can be a powerful force for change in our lives - it can give us the energy to move from situations that might be unhealthy or unsafe. However, when anger becomes difficult to control, or when t begins to hurt the people we love, it is no longer helpful. I provide a safe place to explore what anger is, how it affects us, how it can be helpful, and when it has become detrimental to either yourself or those you loves, and to work with you to find ways to manage that anger in healthy ways.

We all get angry sometimes as anger is part of our core emotions. If you find yourself struggling with managing your anger, which is impacting your relationships and affecting your life, you likely have a lot of emotion to work through. Seeking help and speaking to a therapist can help you process your emotions and allow you to find better ways to address your emotions and navigate challenging situations.

Anger is a natural emotion, that often comes secondary to the initial emotion. Anger is a behavioural response to unmet needs, not being heard, not listening to the primary emotions, and/or not voicing your concerns. Counselling may help you slow down the behavioural response and focus on performing more effective behaviours (e.g., communication). Through improved self-awareness, identifying emotions, addressing thinking patterns, and having behavioural options improvements can be seen. If individuals are willing to put in the work, they can lead more fulfilling lives and develop better personal and professional relationship.

There are 3 phases in working with Anger 1.Prevention- Attempts to forestall the very onset of anger. 2. Intervention- Aims to reduce the intensity or the duration of anger that has already ignited. 3. Postvention- Aims to discharge any residual anger. Emotions are regulated by re-experiencing, releasing, or converting them into a safe form. We will not only focus on your cognitions and behaviors as entry points but also focus on the modification of affect (your emotions). Anger is an emotion. To have no room in therapy for the feeling component of this emotion is to deny its very essence, your existence. Gestalt perspective- Expression of anger can be very productive. Let out!

If anger has a hold on you and your life, therapy can help you feel free again. I can help you learn the necessary skills to manage overwhelming emotions that arise due to anger and help you identify the roots of your anger. Therapy can also help a person address underlying emotions and memories that may be contributing to the distress. With time and patience, anyone can learn to control their anger, and I am here to help you through this journey.

While anger is one of our five basic emotions, it is often the one that gets the worst rap. Anger makes people uncomfortable, and for understandable reasons. When we are angry, our brains go off-line and there is no reasoning with us. We are illogical, we are loud, we might yell or swear or blame others. Frustration is often a cause of anger, but it’s not the only root cause. Stress also plays a critical role in anger building up. Thankfully there are a lot of great concrete strategies that can help lessen the intense flames that burn within. Having a fire extinguisher is not necessary… just a quick call to a therapist will do.

Anger is really the outward expression of internal pain. Often it is easier to be angry than to feel painful emotions such as sadness, loss, and grief. But it is not easy to work through the underlying foundations of anger. By recognizing and understanding the feelings that are driving your anger, I can help you get to the bottom of your anger issues and support positive change in your life.

Maybe you are reaching out because your words and actions are affecting those you love. We will work together to address your emotional reactivity so that you can create enough space before your actions so that you can choose a different path. We will explore what is underlying your anger so that we can address the root cause. Anger is a secondary emotion, and we will work to discover the primary emotion that is causing you such difficulties.

It can be difficult to control our emotions, especially in these challenging times. Anger can also be an expression of other emotions that are lying beneath the surface. Psychotherapy can help identify tools that work for you in learning to regulate your emotions, as well as approaching your anger with preventative strategies such as learning to recognize when you begin to feel angry, and regular activities that can help alleviate stress and build up your stress tolerance. You are not defined by your anger, and your anger doesn't control you. By learning to identify your triggers and the purpose your anger serves for you, therapy can help you make a shift bring more peace into your life.

There are many things that can spark anger and it can be difficult to get a hold when anger takes over. It can also be difficult to understand why certain situations may lead us to feel angry and propel us to act in ways that may not be helpful to ourselves or to the relationships we are part of. Within therapy, I will help you to develop greater insight into how and why you experience anger and together, we will learn about the patterns that anger is connected to. I will also help you to develop tools to more safely connect with anger so that you can experience more fulfilling relationships with yourself and others. Contact me or book a free consultation if you wish to learn more.

By loosely following an eight-ten session Anger Management protocol, clients have the opportunity to not only gain effective tools for gaining control over their anger, but also to finally gain an understanding of it. Clients learn of the triggers, emotional/physical reactions, and self-beliefs that maintain unhealthy anger expression. By developing physical, emotional, and cognitive coping strategies, clients complete this program feeling in control, empowered, and grounded.