Anger Management and Counselling in Thornhill, ON.

People come for psychotherapy to my downtown Toronto practice in order to help them manage feelings of extreme anger and other painful emotions, as well as difficulties being able to be assertive without become excessively aggressive. Sometimes these psychological challenges are recent developments, but sometimes they represent lifelong struggles coping with difficult feelings.

Are you hurting the people you love the most? Are you tired of apologizing for the same old outburst? I can help you heal from your anger and resentment. You do not have to continue in this painful repeating cycle. I will help you learn positive new ways to express your difficult feelings and increase intimacy in your precious relationships. Call me today!

Anger is like many emotions we experience - it can get too hot to handle and when it is not dealt with it causes problems for ourselves and others. It can often lead to relapsing into addictive tendencies, having conflict with others and doing and saying things we regret later. At OWA Therapy you will learn to deal with anger by understanding where it is coming from and developing ways of regulating it. Instead of anger calling the shots, we will learn to get in control of anger and become empowered enough to choose how we express it.

Anger is an emotion, and like any emotion, it serves a purpose. When proportional and effectively directed, anger can motivate us to act and make changes. But when intense and expressed with fighting, swearing, and as an “explosion,” or inward toward yourself, it can lead to harm for both oneself and others. Together, we will explore the benefits of expressing anger effectively, learn how to not “bottle up” emotions, and delve into how cultural and family influences may have shaped your patterns of anger expression. Additionally, we will identify and practice skills, including mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Anger comes from a core that may be expressed in an entirely different situation with an angry reaction. Trish Joyes' approach is to work with clients in self-awareness and figure out what strategies uniquely assist the client. In doing so, clients will benefit from a more positive lifestyle and better communications skills in their relationships.

Anger is a complex emotion with varying underlying issues. My holistic approach to reducing stress and limiting anger involve Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Brief (SFBT), exercise, sleep, finding new ways of expressing oneself, meditation, and friendship and connection seeking. The goal of therapy would be to help you find constructive and positive ways to manage difficult situations. We will work on both emotional and physical arousal, finding strategies to help reduce the anger resulting from these factors.

We start by identifying your anger triggers & things you have to be angry about. We identify your anger style, including behaviours you engage in when angry. We identify where anger happens in your body & work to help you start to see clues when your anger is starting to manifest. We help you improve your emotional language and vocabulary. We identify new ways you might react to anger. We will explore together your anger process, including analyzing instances when you were angry, the thoughts you had, the related feelings, & the behaviour you engaged in as a result. We will talk about "anger up, anger down," identifying the things you say to yourself that either increases or decrease anger.

I have spent hundreds of hours working with clients who struggle with managing anger/rage. There are specific, step-by-step techniques that can be taught, that are very effective at helping people deal with this issue. Based on reports from clients I have worked with, I have found that if clients are committed to their process, most people make significant improvement within 6-12 sessions. Drawing from polyvagal theory, AEDP and mindfulness techniques, clients can learn healthy ways to manage and experience their anger.