Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979
Psychologist, Social Worker, Counselor, & MFT!!

Section 1
Track #1 - Introduction and Five Methods for Handling Anger

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Welcome to the Home Study Course sponsored by the Healthcare Training Institute, homestudycredit.com.  This course deals with Cognitive Therapy Interventions for Anger Management.

Our primary intent for this home study course is to provide quality education to foster your professional growth.  The Institute has provided quality education since 1979.
 
Hi.  My name is Jared Baxter.  I will be the narrator of this CD set.  We appreciate that you have chosen us as a vehicle for you to earn your Continuing Education Credit.

The purpose of the course is to assist you in increasing your knowledge regarding how to treat patients, clients, etc. dealing with anger management.  As each case study is given, if the concepts seem to be applicable to your situation, I encourage you to turn your CD player off and make a few notes regarding the application of the principle to your setting.  However, these notes are for your purposes only and are not to be sent to the Institute.  Also each track is very content dense.  So feel free to replay the track to review the content either for your own purposes, or if you feel appropriate play the track in an individual or group session for client education.  Also permission is granted to reproduce this CD.  We encourage you to duplicate give copies of this CD to colleagues, clients, etc. as you deem appropriate. We feel the information on our CD's is valuable.  Thus, we have an interest in distributing CD's in as many ways as possible, to benefit the greatest number of people, who have a need and are receptive to this practical information.

The questions in your Answer Booklet are sequential and deal with the section of content that preceded it.  For this reason, to facilitate the answering of each question, you might read the question from the Answer Booklet prior to listening to that CD track.  By knowing what the question is ahead of time, you will then know the content to listen for that contains the answer.  So just a hint, after you write down the answer to a question in your Answer Booklet, read on to the next question in order to give you a “heads up” to listen for the content that contains the answer to the next question.

Merely write the correct letter on the corresponding blank line in your answer booklet. Each answer is only used once. Keep in mind there is nothing trick or hard about these questions.  They are merely intended to verify the playing of this CD.

For the purpose of brevity, most generally, I will use the term “therapists” or “mental health professional.”  However, don’t let these terms deter you from applying the concepts to your situations.  When you hear the word “therapists,” if your job title is social worker, psychologist, marriage and family therapist, mental health counselor, professional counselor, resident director, program assistant, etc. merely substitute the appropriate term that is the most meaningful to you. In short, don’t let my use of the term “therapists” cognitively set you off track from hearing the content because your job title is school counselor, for example.  I will also use the term “client” for the purposes of brevity.  However, if you deal with patients, residents, students, consumers, etc., transpose “client” for the term that is the most meaningful to you in your work setting. 

On this CD set we will discuss such topics as: the five methods for handling anger, how feeling controlled causes anger, five myths that perpetuate anger, how other emotions create anger, intentions of anger displays, children and anger, rationalizations that perpetuate anger, assertiveness training, being accountable, combating trigger thoughts, alternatives to anger, positive response, the relationship between anger and depression, and self-inflicted anger.

So  let’s get started.

On this track, we will discuss the five methods for handling anger as it relates to cognitive therapy.  These methods are suppression, open aggression, passive aggression, assertiveness, and  dropping it.  As I discuss these five methods for handling anger you might use this as a checklist for an anger management client you are currently treating.

#1 Suppression
First, let’s discuss suppression. As you know, many anger management clients hesitate to admit their own anger. They suppress anger for one reason or another. First, it is important to clients to never appear upset to others. The second reason is they are in a state of denial. I spoke with Mary, age 38, who described her reason for suppressing anger. “I can’t afford to be angry. It would ruin my reputation. What would happen if I lost my social status?” Mary had taken an all or nothing approach to anger. Mary’s reasoning led her to believe that all anger is bad so she may never afford to express it.

#2 Open Aggresion
The second method for handling anger is open aggression. This category of anger tends to denote rage and explosiveness, but as you know can also include criticism and sarcasm. In my experience, personal insecurities can be an explanation for open aggression. Tim, age 43, told me “I used to be mild mannered, until my wife told me she was leaving me. I immediately felt alone. I started saying real mean things to her whenever she came by the house. I would throw things and raise my voice. I’m sure this pushed her away even further.” As you know, it is healthy to demand respect, but Tim took this normal desire too far. Aggressive clients’ emotional stability may rely on the cooperation of their partners. At the close of our session, I had Tim try the Breathing to Relax technique. The objective is to have the client focus on something else prior to displaying anger. I had Tim sit comfortably and close one nostril. I then told him to take a deep breath through his open nare to the count of ten and hold it for two seconds. Next, I had Tim close the open nostril and open the closed nostril at the same time and exhale through the newly opened nostril. As Tim finished I explained he could repeat the exercise as many times as he needed to calm himself whenever he began to feel angry.

#3 Passive Aggression
In addition to suppression and open aggression, we will discuss passive aggression. As you are aware, a client’s determination to not succumb to open aggression can lead to passive aggression. As they suppress their emotions, anger manifests itself in other ways. Procrastination, silence, lying, evasiveness, and being obstinate are all manifestations of passive aggression.

The first three methods for handling anger that we have discussed tend to perpetuate anger. The next two methods can lead to success.

#4 Assertiveness
The fourth method is assertiveness.  Clearly, anger can be a method of preserving self worth. You probably know that assertive anger means this preservation is accomplished while considering the needs and feelings of others.  I talked to Mary, age 38, about channeling her anger into assertiveness. She stated “I’ll really have to change my way of thinking. I never thought anger could be constructive. I gave Mary two reminders that should help her learn to communicate assertively. “1. Make sure the issues receiving your attention are not trivial. And 2. Be aware your tone of voice can create an atmosphere of respect.” I was sure to tell Mary that assertiveness is not always easy. As you may have experienced, assertiveness requires self discipline and respect.

#5 Dropping It
The fifth method for handling anger is dropping it. Clearly, this just means letting go and can be harder than assertiveness. You probably know dropping anger means accepting the inability to control a situation and recognizing personal limits.  Tim, age 43, was still bitter over his divorce and he talked to me about the difficulty of letting go of his anger. “What makes this so difficult is that she never gave me a chance. She never bothered to discuss our issues. Then I responded poorly and made matters worse.” I summarized: “So, feeling the divorce was unnecessary makes it difficult to forgive and forget.” Tim responded by saying “That’s an understatement! I know I need to move on, but it feels wrong. I wish I could tie up the loose ends.” As you know, it is important a client understands the difference between dropping it and suppression.

On this track we discussed the five methods for handling anger. These methods are suppression, open aggression, passive aggression, assertiveness, and  dropping it. As you probably have experienced, clients can benefit greatly from taking responsibility for their expressions of anger and focusing on channeling angry feelings toward assertiveness and letting go.

QUESTION 1
What are the five methods for handling anger? To select and enter your answer go to Answer Booklet.