Anger Management and Counseling in Houston, TX.

We have all faced circumstances in life that provoke anger. It is a very healthy and natural reaction to some stressful and problematic situations. Sometimes, however, these reactions go too far and hurt the people we love. There are several techniques that work well to reduce angry outbursts and aggressive responses directed at others. I can help you or your child discover strategies to remain calm in stressful situations and channel energy into emotional problem solving that leads to healthier and more positive outcomes.

Anger is our response to stress. Sometimes we feel anger to avoid some other emotion such as anxiety or hurt and other times anger is a way of mobilizing ourselves in the face of a threat. Regardless of the reasons for your anger, you may find that it is unproductive in your relationships with others. Our therapists can help you develop new responses to stress and help you stop the spiral of anger. Our approach to working with anger is both physiological and psychological. We will help you recognize and manage the physical signs and symptoms that occur when you're angry as well as finding new ways to express yourself and get your needs met in a way that others can understand.

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.

You can learn to manage your anger by recognizing where emotions come from and learning alternatives to getting angry, ones that are far more likely to get you what you really want and need. Anger is generally a secondary emotion. You can learn to identify what feelings are underneath the anger and how to express those appropriately instead. Anger is not necessary or helpful.

You'll find a secure, accepting environment to explore and comprehend your emotions in our workshops on managing anger. We'll identify the causes of anger and develop useful coping mechanisms so that it may be expressed and dealt with in a healthy way. We'll strive toward long-lasting emotional control and resolution by exploring the underlying issues. I'll provide you useful tips and tricks so you can respond to difficult circumstances with more poise and clarity. You will gain the abilities and self-awareness necessary to promote better relationships and handle life's issues with a more impartial viewpoint through our therapeutic partnership.

Anger is not necessarily a bad emotion and one that can be used for progress. Together we can examine your anger and come up with a plan on how to manage and be comfortable with this emotion. I can help you with a number of coping solutions and show you ways to bring the emotion under your will. If there is an underlying root of your anger we can expose it and help it to heal.

Anger doesn’t have to equal rage. We can learn how to express angry feelings in ways which don’t cause fear in the people around us. Sometimes our feelings for a person are more possessive than loving. We can use humor in the form of sarcasm, masking our anger instead of sharing our feelings in a healthy way. It might feel like we go from 0-100 on the anger scale quickly, but it is a process similar to dominoes falling one after the other. If we can learn to recognize the process that occurs and slow it down in our mind, we can make better choices and express our feelings without the trauma, emotional and even physical damage that rage and anger inflicts on ourselves and those around us.

My approach revolves around helping clients gain a deep understanding of the root causes and triggers of their anger. I provide a supportive and non-judgmental space where clients can explore their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors associated with anger. Through evidence-based techniques and strategies, clients will benefit by learning healthier ways to express and manage their anger, enhancing their communication skills, and ultimately regaining control over their reactions.

Managing our emotions appropriately is a skill that is learned. This skill takes time, but with continued dedication and education, you will be on a track to positive emotional mental health. We teach you to understand your triggers and to minimize any negative outbursts. We do however understand that strong angry emotions can get the best of us regardless of our efforts to avoid triggers. We help you learn to manage your emotions while in the moment without responding in ways we regret in the future.

Anger can negatively affect someone’s life in numerous ways, as well as hurt loved ones, colleagues, or strangers. It’s impossible to be joyful and angry at the same time. When you work with one of our professional counselors you will gain an understanding about what’s causing your anger and how to overcome it. Anger usually masks one or more deeper emotions and experiences, such as a perceived injustice, fear, and hurt or sorrow. Once you gain insights about what’s beneath your anger then you can begin to make some real progress in addressing it in healthier ways and overcoming it.

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.

Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D approaches issues of anger management in a very humane yet fresh perspective. You see, anger is a normal emotion but it is the valence (intensity) as well as the coupling choice of what one does with this that is the problem. Telling someone to "not" do it or modifying behavior with a trite psychological plan that only breeds a compliant response is not the way to change anger. Brainwave optimization is a new cutting edge technology that allows one to rewire circuitry responsible for reactivity driving the anger. Contact Grey Matters International, Inc now at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.