CreativeTherapyTools

I have been teaching anger management groups for a while using a combination of psycho-educational and process oriented techniques. For recovery groups anger is often listed in the top 5 reasons people report relapsing. One of the successful techniques of managing anger and other emotions is to identify you go to mode of thinking. Below is 1 hand out I often use. We go over the and out, and I ask folks to chose their one or two go to thinking styles and give examples in relation to anger. 

All or nothing thinking

• Be specific, focus on the behavior only and describe it with precision

Jumping to conclusions

• Pay attention and catch yourself making the assumptions
• Keep an open mind to other possibilities

Should statements

• Describe what you want or would like. Then if it doesn’t happen you

can be frustrated/disappointed but less likely to feel righteous anger

Blaming

• Forget the other person, they’re not going to do anything different

Labelling

• Don’t make judgments about the other person

Overgeneralization

• Make a conscious effort to look for exceptions

Magnification

• How bad is it really? Look at the whole picture
• Be very accurate & precise in your answer