Anger Management and Counselling in Castlegar, BC.

Many people have an uneasy relationship with anger. I use Narrative and Internal Family Systems approaches to working through anger issues, where clients are helped to understand that anger is part of the normal human range of emotions, and serves a unique purpose in our overall mental and emotional health. Together, we explore the functional role anger plays in their lives, and how a better relationship with anger can be fostered. Clients learn that turning toward and understanding their anger, rather than fighting or denying it, gives them more, not less power and control.

Our anger can be a sentry, a protector and a wise indicator that our boundaries have been transgressed or that something vitally important to us is threatened. It can also be a raging tyrant, a short fuse, a simmering internalisation that off-gases through passive aggression, or a childish tantrum. Becoming intimate with our anger is synonymous with becoming intimidate with our power. In anger therapy, we will work to understand the unique way your anger process happens through somatic awareness, mindfulness and emotional intimacy. We will look at your history with anger, your family lineage, and you will learn tools to channel this fire in ways that support rather than hinder your life.

When anger gets the best of us, we can say and/or do things that we later wish we could change or take back. Anger is an instinctive universal emotion, one in which we all have, but not all expressions of anger have to be hurt. In fact, anger works as a great informant and can motivate us to take action to improve our own lives and the lives of people that we care about.

Anger can be a powerful and sometimes overwhelming emotion, but with the right tools, it can be transformed into a source of insight and positive change. In anger management counseling, clients learn to identify triggers, understand the root causes of their anger, and develop healthy ways to express and manage it. My approach focuses on building emotional awareness, enhancing communication skills, and fostering self-control, enabling clients to navigate challenges more calmly and create healthier, more fulfilling relationships.

Anger can be a reaction to a range of experiences, from past traumas to present-day stressors, and EMDR can help to desensitize and reprocess these experiences, reducing the intensity of the emotional response. Through the use of bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, EMDR can help to process the distressing memories and emotions, leading to increased emotional regulation and a greater sense of control over one's emotional response. By addressing the underlying emotional triggers, EMDR can help to alleviate symptoms of anger and promote more adaptive coping strategies.

If a client comes to me with anger management, I would approach them with curiosity and examine the root cause of the anger. Depending on the source of the anger, I would determine what type of approach to use. For example if the anger was caused by a specific event, if the client agrees, we would explore that specific event in detail, as well as practical strategies to manage the existing anger. Approaches I use are Alderian therapy or EFT for treatment.