All About CBT for Anger Management Problems, How it Works and What’s Involved

CBT for Anger

Our course of CBT for Anger is highly effective for overcoming the emotional distress that you experience when you have this problem.

Anger is a normal human emotion that we can all feel at some point in our lives and in most cases it does not cause any harm.

However, you may be unable to control your anger or become angry at seemingly trivial situations, and this is when it can become problematic.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was developed by Aaron Beck in the 1960’s who recognised that people’s inner-thoughts were often more significant than the things that they said out loud during therapy sessions.

He called these inner-thoughts cognition and argued that the way that people think about their experiences links directly to the emotions that they feel.

These ideas form the central concept of CBT which states that:

The way that you think determines the way that you feel.

Therefore, your emotional experiences are the outcomes of what you think and believe rather than being caused by the things that are happening around you.

Anger Symptoms

Anger has been shown to be linked with the following changes:

• Physical changes: When you feel angry, your body may experience physical changes such as a rapid heartbeat, sweating, shaking, and tense muscles.
• Behavioural changes: You may find yourself behaving differently when you’re angry, such as speaking loudly or aggressively. You might also find yourself clenching your fists, pacing back and forth, or slamming doors.
• Emotional changes: Anger can cause a range of emotions such as frustration, irritation, annoyance or resentment. You might also eperience feelings of injustice or unfairness.
• Cognitive changes: When you’re angry, you may have trouble thinking clearly, have difficulty making decisions, and may be more impulsive.
• Social changes: Anger can also affect your relationships and social interactions. You may become isolated, withdraw from others, or become confrontational with those around you.

You may have some or all of these symptoms, but it is important to remember that you may feel anxious in different ways to other people because of the subjective nature of human experiences.

How does CBT for Anger work?

Normally a programme of CBT for Anger takes place over a period of 10 to 20 weeks with an hour long session once per week.

CBT addresses Anger problems in three phases:

Firstly, because the way you think about your day-to-day experiences is determined by your core beliefs, the early sessions of CBT for Anger involve exploring and measuring these beliefs.

Secondly, once you are able to uncover your core beliefs, your thoughts about certain experiences will make more sense.

Thirdly, by understanding how you have made sense of your experiences in the past you can then begin to make changes to your thoughts and beliefs in order to create new, and more useful, emotional outcomes.

CBT for Anger builds upon the 5 core CBT principles developed by Aaron Beck and are used extensively in our CORE Programme.

How many sessions of CBT will I need?

Whilst this is a difficult question to be precise about, you should be able to address your Anger problems in around 10-20 sessions.

However, because CBT for Anger is always tailored to your own individual needs and circumstances, getting the outcome that you want may sometimes require more sessions.

If you have been suffering Anger problems for many years then in all likelihood, you can reasonably expect to take a bit longer to get where you want to be.

Our CBT for Anger programme is based on 12 sessions delivered over 12 weeks.

The programme uses an online learning platform to help you develop greater self-awareness and knowledge in the days between sessions.

The Behaviour Change Framework

All of our counselling sessions and programmes for anger use the Behaviour Change Framework (BCF).

This scientifically proven protocol defines the stages of behaviour change that you need to go through in order to achieve long lasting and sustainable change.

The framework provides a roadmap that indicates if more change is required before entering the next phase of mental health therapy.

In this way, we are able to ensure that you get the best possible level of support in overcoming your mental health problems as well preventing early termination of therapy.

You can read more about the Science of Change here.

Arrange your FREE initial consultation here.

If you’d like to find out more about CBT for anger or recovering from any of your mental health problems then why not arrange a free initial consultation with us.

During this consultation we will discuss your particular issues and the different types of mental health counselling we offer without you having to commit to any counselling going forward.

The consultation lasts around 50 minutes and is a great opportunity to meet with either Paul or Joan and decide if you would like to proceed with any support.