
Introduction to course and instructors, and disclaimer
Provide a clear disclaimer for this anger management course and summarize the 10 ways to control anger.
identify internal and external motivations to change anger, evaluate ambivalence, and commit to practical techniques that reduce excessive anger for calmer relationships and a happier life.
Identify how the anger episode begins with a trigger, usually negative or perceived negative in neutral situations. Note common triggers, including disrespect, neglect, rejection, and daily hassles, that spark anger.
Identify sudden, non thoughtful urges to act in anger episodes, explore their triggers and lifestyle factors, and apply the anger episode model to pause and recall urges.
Explore how seven lifestyle factors: nutrition, alcohol, sleep, lighting, music, smells, and color shape anger management, from blood glucose stability and glycemic index to calming environments and color cues.
After watching this video, you will know about the advantages of sidestepping rather than immediately dealing with provocative situations. You will also learn about the 6 different types of sidestepping procedures and how to decide whether to use them.
Identify ongoing anger triggers and practice sidestepping them with avoidance and escape strategies, such as changing routines, avoiding triggering topics, or gracefully exiting tense moments to reduce anger.
Learn to control anger by changing anger-producing thoughts, adopting rational thinking, and practicing acceptance and forgiveness to reshape your perceptions and responses.
Learn to control anger by changing your thinking in four steps, recognizing six irrational patterns, and applying six rational patterns in daily life for lasting effects.
Learn six rational thinking patterns to control anger reactions, practice daily self-talk in daily life, and replace distortions with precise descriptions to manage conflicts effectively.
Explore why forgiveness reduces anger when you cannot change the offender, and apply a five-step process: uncovering anger, deciding to forgive, defining forgiveness, understanding others, and giving a gift.
Learn to calm your angry urges using progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness, and meditation. Apply diaphragmatic and rhythmic breathing, exercise, prayer, and mindful listening to stay present and respond thoughtfully.
Learn two techniques to express anger in a useful and productive way, helping others recognize it and guiding you toward resolution while improving your social and interpersonal skills.
Master body language awareness—eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and interpersonal space—to reduce anger and improve social and interpersonal skills.
Learn to express anger assertively and productively using the I feel formula to balance rights and resolve conflicts. Develop an assertive lifestyle by listening, compromising, and avoiding verbal aggression.
Learn to manage anger across life situations using the smart anger management program, practice control strategies, and progress toward reacting with less anger, bitterness, and revenge thoughts.
Based on our award winning book, ANGER MANAGEMENT FOR EVERYONE (Tafrate and Kassinove), we introduce you to the basic elements of anger. We note that while some anger is normal, since it is part of our evolutionary history, it becomes maladaptive when it occurs too often, too intensely, and lasts for an extended period of time.
We describe our ANGER EPISODE MODEL to show exactly what happens when you become angry and help you understand that episodes of anger begin, develop, and end in a predictable pattern.
10 SPECIFIC, RESEARCH SUPPORTED TECHNIQUES are presented that you can use to reduce your anger. Some are quick and easy to implement while others require some work on your part. The techniques or strategies are (1) managing your unhelpful lifestyle behaviors, (2) knowing how and when to sidestep provocations, (3) finding new and previously unthought of solutions to social and interpersonal problems, (4) improving the way you think about challenges and conflicts perceived to be nasty, (5) learning to let anger go by committing to your fundamental life values, (6) forgiving perpetrators of nasty actions against you, (7) calming your angry urges with relaxation and mindful meditation, (8) learning to develop better reactions to adversity by exposing yourself to problem triggers, (9) improving your social and interpersonal skills, and (10) expressing your anger in an assertive but not aggressive way.
Beyond the lectures, quizzes and exercises are used to help you understand and practice each technique. Fundamental to the program is our respect for your ability to choose the techniques you think are most likely to be helpful to you. You can consider the 10 strategies to be like a menu of opportunities for personal growth. We call the program SMART ANGER MANAGMENT. SMART stands for Selection Menu for Anger Reduction Treatment.