Everyone gets angry on occasion. Some people might even throw a book across the room. However, when your anger hurts others – or causes you to hurt yourself – it’s time to get help. Professional assistance with anger management techniques can make a difference in the way you process the emotion.

Understanding the Different Types of Anger

A red-haired counselor explains anger management techniques to a female patient on a couchAnger management techniques must fit the emotion you feel. For some, it’s a culmination of a number of disappointments they’ve been suffering. When it comes out, it’s typically an explosion of rage. Others have a continuously simmering anger right underneath the surface.

They may relive an event over and over. They can’t move past this experience. It then begins to shape their interactions with others. It can also lead to risky behaviors such as drug abuse.

Moreover, when your anger is out of control, you may deal with physiological symptoms, too. Anger creates stress. Stress, in turn, can lead to disease or worsen medical conditions. It’s fair to say that learning the right anger management techniques could save your health and even your life.

Anger Management Techniques That Help Most People

Learn the warning signs of your anger. Usually, you can feel the emotion getting stronger. You might feel yourself getting warmer. But you don’t have to allow the anger to come out destructively.

Walk away from the person or situation that causes your anger to rise. Give yourself a break. Parents refer to this as putting themselves into time out. Communicate with the other person that you need a break. This allows you to cool down and revisit the situation later.

If you tend to relive situations that get your anger up, work on avoiding this practice. Instead, re-focus your attention on something that makes you feel good. Doing so means that you need to catch yourself while playing a negative memory over and over in your mind. However, sometimes doing anger management on your own doesn’t work.

Getting Professional Help for an Anger Problem

Anger management techniques from PACE Mental Health can be a tremendous help for the person struggling with an anger problem. However, for someone whose anger is overwhelming, it could be beneficial to undergo anger management therapy. For example, you might be dealing with an underlying mental health condition that expresses itself in negative thinking. Work with a therapist for best results.

Typical therapies could include:

  • Individual therapy for dysfunctional pattern exploration and change
  • Dialectical behavior therapy that promotes emotional regulation even under challenging circumstances
  • Trauma therapy as a means for overcoming situations from the past that are still affecting you today
  • Therapy for depression or anxiety, which may influence your development of angry outbursts
  • Medication therapy management for any psychiatric disorders that cause you to act out in ways you don’t like

By targeting anger management techniques to fit your personality and needs, a counselor works with you on a regular basis. As you learn more about yourself and your needs, you also learn how to communicate more effectively. Therapy sessions let you work on underlying reasons for anger. They also encourage you to find healthy ways of releasing it.

Remember: Anger is Normal

It’s impossible to avoid getting angry. You’re dealing with a normal emotion that affects everyone. Anger combines physiological and psychological components. For this reason, you shouldn’t feel bad about experiencing anger now and then.

What you do with the feeling, on the other hand, is another matter. Healthy expressions of anger may feature non-aggressive assertion. You deliver a strongly-worded opinion. However, you don’t act out violently.

Developing healthy anger management skills makes it possible for you to communicate your thoughts and feelings. They let you speak up about your needs. If you find that you need help in this area, therapeutic health and counseling services can help. Talk to the therapists at PACE Mental Health Houston today by calling 866.971.8423 for more information.