IS ANGER A NORMAL EMOTION?

ANGER is a normal emotion designed to protect us and keep us alive. It should be differentiated from THE ANGRY REACTION which is a behavior pattern that is usually learned in early childhood and which is the aggressive reaction to the perception we are being attacked. That attack is most commonly verbal, but can also be physical, psychological or emotional.

Fear is certainly one of the precursors to the angry reaction (and may be most important) but so are other primary emotions such as frustration, inability to communicate assertively, low self-esteem, lack of empathy for others, unresolved stresses of all kinds, excessive aggressiveness and high levels of deference which is giving your rights to others to make decisions for you which may not be what you really want.

Additionally, some individuals show toxic behavior to others such as controlling, manipulative or other hurtful behaviors which are perceived as attacks.

As humans we fear many things: loss of our lives, loss of our mates, loss of our children, loss of our parents, loss of jobs, loss of our homes, loss of our money...even loss of our freedoms and way of life. Yes, FEAR guides our behaviors in many ways and it certainly is in my opinion the most important factor causing the angry reaction. However, it is not by far the only cause.

Anger Management is not therapy! It is training to teach the angry person the tools necessary to change their behavior. It is NOT psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment with medication unless there are underlying mental conditions.

Just because a person gets angry does NOT mean they are mentally ill or crazy. It does in fact mean they have never learned how to behave appropriately in society.

So every ANGER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM should begin with a written assessment (an examination) which measures certain parameters of an individual's behavior: assertiveness, empathy, stress management skills, interpersonal aggression, deference and their motivation to succeed at making the changes necessary to control their anger. That examination assessment should be administered at the end of the training as well to compare the results to the initial examination.

Lastly, every ANGER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM should include 1) the Tools necessary to control the angry reaction, 2) Stress Management training, 3) enhancing Emotional Intelligence and 4) improving Communication skills. Without these areas of training, anger management would be of little value.

For more information, please contact

Dr. Steven J. Sinert, Certified in Anger Management

Nevada Anger Management, LLC,
5812 S. Pecos Rd – Suite B
Las Vegas, Nevada 89120

702 353 1750

dr.sinert@nevadaangermanagement.com
www.nevadaangermanagement.com