Wednesday 23 November 2011

How Anger Management Classes Will Work for You

ContentIs anger management really effective? That is a question asked by many with fairly limited information to support a non-subjective answer. Yes, there are numerous studies on anger management where the research has been published in a scientific journals and reviewed by peers. Most of these studies have looked at segments of our culture that are incarcerated or who have committed violent crimes. The concern with those studies is most people who take anger control classes are not violent offenders and lead non-criminal lives. There are other studies which can be found on the Internet but only offer research from their own clinical office, which doesn’t carry much weight. This is mostly due to the fact that there is no way to prove the validity of it. Most anger management professionals, no matter how great or successful their practices are, don’t have the funds or staff to conduct proper research.That being said, much can be gained from what hundreds or even thousands of previous clients have said. After providing thousands of pre and post tests and interviewing untold numbers of students of anger management, the single predictor of success in anger management comes from client motivation. That is to say, does the client want to change? Those that are highly motivated to change see the best results. Those who are highly motivated to learn, tend to do better and hold on to the material being taught longer.The second predictor of success in anger management is a program that focuses on proven methods. Anger classes should include skills in the following:1. Skills in Stress Management2. Gaining skills in Empathy and Emotional Intelligence3. Learning to respond instead of React4. Changing ones internal dialog from negative to positive5. Gaining Good Communication and Listening Skills6. Expectation management7. Forgive but don’t forget8. Taking time outs and cool downsThe type of the anger management class is less important then the content or delivery method. Clients report the same results from attending live anger management classes as they do from one/one classes for anger control or online anger management classes. The type of class is a personal choice. Some prefer the face to face programs, while other prefer to take courses at their own pace on their own time.Anger management is not something that happens instantly. Gaining skills and maintaining change takes time. Those who are working on their own anger control need to manage their own expectations that learning new skills and perfecting them is a timeless road.

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