Anger Management and Counseling in Venice, FL.

Anger is a common emotion- one that is neither good nor bad and one that can have positive or negative consequences. Anger management therapy helps clients recognize their anger and develop skills and strategies for effectively managing their anger. I will help you identify triggers and underlying issues, identify your body’s response and/or reaction (physical symptoms) and provide education on the difference between reaction and response, help identify effective ways to express feelings, and greater self-awareness.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Our body and brain are connected in such a way that sometimes we react to a situation before we even realize what is happening. Being able to control your actions is such an important part of living. It affects our relationships, our work, our home life, even our self-care time. If you have been struggling with handling anger appropriately, I will help you understand the mind-body connection and what you can do to stop and think before automatically responding to a situation.

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.