Anger Management and Counseling in Lake Alfred, FL.

Children ages 3-11display anger by acting out. This anger may be due to other underlying issues, such as depression. I use client-centered play therapy in a safe environment, enabling the child to express his/her emotions and thoughts through play. Play Therapy uses play, a child's natural medium of expression, to help them express their feelings more easily through toys instead of words.

As a culture, we do not do well with healthy expressions of anger. Often we are raised to suppress it and then we have limited practice at dealing with big emotion. There is a spectrum of healthy aggression- to keep us safe and to maintain boundaries- and rage- our body's strategy for safety. Anger management is about applying the right "dosing" to maintain boundaries yet not fracture relationships or suffer other losses. I am able to help you learn to regulate your body to be able to apply the appropriate "dose" to be effective and not destructive.

We help our clients to have greater understanding of themselves and their interactions with others to improve the quality of their relationships. We utilize mindfulness, self-exploration, and self-soothing techniques to help improve clients' emotional regulation skills. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, EMDR or ART, Trauma-Focused CBT, and Existential Therapy are especially helpful for healing trauma and improving interpersonal interactions with others.

Anger is a difficult issue to tackle, and it isn't something that you can fix on your own. Anger in itself isn't wrong; however, the manifestation of that anger is what causes so much trouble. Many of you have very good reasons to be angry, but that anger needs to be expressed constructively. There are also those who are angry and have no idea why. We will explore this in a safe environment to give you the tools needed to extinguish that anger.

Many times anger is the only acceptable emotion, especially for men. Uncovering the feelings, emotions and frustrations that are behind that anger can completely change the dynamic. Let's work to understand what that anger is about and heal it. Decreasing anger can completely change your relationships and increase a sense of calmness and peace in your life. It is never too late to have a happy life.

In my experience as an EMDR therapist, I pay close attention to the links between past and present. I’ve seen time and time again how unhealed emotional wounds resurface and come out sideways. While anger management can provide helpful strategies, they don’t get to the heart of the issue. Often, anger is what we see on the surface, but the real problem is what’s underneath the anger. Negative beliefs like “I’m helpless,” “I’m out of control,” and “I’m a failure,” start to bubble up, and anger comes to the rescue. It can get us in trouble, but at least it gets the blood pumping. With research-proven EMDR therapy, I help men heal anger at its source so it doesn’t have to be managed.

I often coach men on how to better regulate their emotions, including anger. I can teach you strategies from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, provide relationship insights from the Gottman Method, and help you practice calming strategies to take control back. You might have every right to be angry. But if it’s making things worse, it’s time for a change. At Lion Counseling, our mission is to help you escape the cages that hold you back and become the lion God created you to be.