Anger- Overview
Anger is a very powerful basic human emotion that can stem from feelings of frustration, hurt,
annoyance or disappointment.
Causes:
Individuals raised in an environment where anger is a way of communication.
A child who has been discriminated by their caregivers as compared to their sibling, tends to
become an angry individual.
Victims of physical, sexual and verbal abuse.
Wiring:
They are biased to notice unfair attributes in a situation or an event.
They are unable to weigh between fair and unfair attributes of a situations.
Behaviour:
Angry individuals focus more on themselves. They are solely focused on what they need
and do not think about others concerns.
They tend to blame others rather than taking responsibility for the consequences of their
anger.
They assert their opinion as fact which is telling others that their opinions are irrelevant.
They resort to undermine others to make them self look better by comparison.
Rewiring:
Enabling them to identify the fair attributes of a situation.
Enabling them to weigh between fair and unfair attributes of a situation.
Session Plan Table
SESSION PLAN
Session 0A Identifying the trait
Session 0B Interpretation of the questionnaires
Session 1 Psychoeducation + Application setting
Session 2 Identify causes and cognitive distortions
Session 3 Rewiring
Session 4 Rewiring
Session 5 Relapse Prevention
Session 6 Termination
Session O A -Identifying the Trait
Introduction to the trait management skills program.
Ask the clients to introduce themselves.
Identify personal and professional goals of the clients
Ask the client what is preventing them from achieving their goals.
Identify the potential trait by exploring the behaviours, thoughts and emotions.
Explore the causes for the traits to manifest (when and why it started). If resistant, tackle
using wiring statement. From this, identify the primary, secondary and parallel traits.
Send the required questionnaires to the client.
If you cannot identify which is the primary and secondary trait, do not decide based on the
questionnaires. Understand the potential primary trait based on the causes explored during
the session.
Session O B- Interpretation of the Questionnaires
Ask for any new thoughts from the previous conversation.
Interpretation of the questionnaires.
Make connections between goals and trait.
Schedule for regular sessions.
Session 1: Psychoeducation and Application Setting
Psychoeducation
Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human trait. But if the trait is unbalanced, it
can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality
of your life.
Sometimes, anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to express negative feelings,
or motivate you to find solutions to problems. But excessive anger can cause problems. Increased
blood pressure and other physical changes associated with anger could make it difficult for you to
think straight and harm your physical and mental health.
Instead of focusing on the behaviours that are manifested because of the anger issues, it is
important to understand why you get angry. Individuals exhibit the trait especially when they
process the situation to be unfair and are unable to see the fair attributes of the situation.
(Explain the trait to the client using the wiring statements. The concept of wiring statements and its
importance has to explained to the client.)
The wiring for anger would be:
They are biased to notice unfair attributes in a situation or an event.
They are unable to weigh between fair and unfair attributes of a situations.
For example, if a friend interrupts you when you are working, you tend to look at it as
unfair. You would feel that the friend is disturbing you, though he knows you are doing something
important. You would view the situation as unfair and lash out at your friend as you would find it
difficult to look at the fair attributes of the situation, which includes the friend coming to you due to
some genuine reasons.
Here are the symptoms of anger:
Emotional Symptoms of Anger:
Constant irritability and rage are possible emotional symptoms. If you feel overwhelmed, have
trouble organizing or managing your thoughts or fantasize about hurting yourself or others, you
could be experiencing anger issues. These symptoms are experienced by the individual since they
are inclined towards noticing unfair attributes in a situation and they find it difficult to weigh
between fair and unfair attributes of a situation.
Physical Symptoms of Anger:
Anger often brings about physical changes to the body. Letting anger issues go unaddressed can put
your overall health at risk. Some physical symptoms of anger-related problems include:
Tingling
Heart palpitations or tightening of the chest
Increased blood pressure
Headaches
Pressure in the head or sinus cavities
Fatigue
All of these symptoms are experienced by the client mainly because of the way they process and
perceive their situation. Since they pick out out only unfair attributes in their situation, which leads
to certain bodily changes and can put the individual's health at risk.
Psychological Symptoms:
Feeling frustrated
Feeling rejected
Feeling that you’ve been mistreated
Hostility towards some people
When anger leads to aggression people often describe feeling ‘out of control’
These symptoms are experienced by the clients mostly because of the way they think about
themselves and the world around them as they give more attention to the unfair attributes in the
situation than the fair attributes.
Secondary Traits due to Anger:
Violence
Sensitivity
Anxiety
Stress
Explain to the client the different kinds of actions on the application- Physical Actions,
Dietary Actions, Brain Games and Mind Actions.
Facilitate them to carry out the activities by making them try out few during the sessions.
Session 2: Identify Causes and Cognitive Distortions
In this session, causes that have led to the client's unbalanced trait should be identified.
Causes:
Individuals raised in an environment where anger is a way of communication.
One cause may be genetic or physiological: There is evidence that some children are born
irritable, touchy, and easily angered, and that these signs are present from a very early age.
Research has also found that early life experiences play a role. Typically, people who are
easily angered come from families that are disruptive, chaotic, and not skilled at emotional
communications. So, this is in line with the wiring statements for anger - “They are biased
to notice unfair attributes in a situation or an event. And, they are unable to weigh between
fair and unfair attributes of a situations.” Due to their upbringing, people with anger issues
look at what is unfair and ignore the fair aspects of a situation.
A child who has been discriminated by their caregivers as compared to their sibling, tend to
become an angry individual. They tend to look at only the unfair attributes in a situation
since they are used to being treated in an unfair manner by their parents who discriminate
between them and their siblings.
Victims of physical, sexual and verbal abuse. Due to such drastic negative experiences, these
victims might look at only the unfair attributes in a situation and ignore the fair attributes.
People with anger issues can't take things in stride, and they're particularly infuriated if the
situation seems somehow unjust: for example, being corrected for a minor mistake. So, here the
wiring is in tandem, as the individual might look at the unfair attributes and not see the fair
attributes of the situation.
Unfair thoughts fall into two categories:
1) The belief that you’ve been harmed, ridiculed or victimized, so you view only unfair
attributes in a situation.
2) The belief that the other person means to do you harm, which you again view as unfair.
The key point about unfair thoughts is that may escalate an angry situation without any basis
in reality. It is important that we try to recognize our unfair thoughts, so that we can step back and
assess how accurate they are. In this way we can halt any escalating event that may lead to intense
feelings that are difficult to control.
Here are few cognitive distortions that takes place when you are angry:
1. Overgeneralization- You view an event as a never ending cycle of
defeat...always...all...every...never.
For example, “She is always doing things like that to make me feel bad”
“You are never ready on time. We are always late because of you.”
2. All-or-Nothing-Thinking- You look at things from all or nothing categories.
For example, “I hate him since he did not help me when I needed it the most.”
3. Mind Reading- You assume people are treating you badly and that you know their true
motive
For example, “I knew my colleague was going to cheat me.”
4. Magnification – You blow things out of proportion, you make mountains out of molehills.
For example, “She is going to end up totally helpless and I will have to take care of
everything.”
5. Blaming- They blame other people or the circumstances for their problem, and they
overlook ways that they might be contributing to the problem.
For example, “He did it to you and he should not get away with it! It is all his fault and I am
blameless.”
6. Negative Filter- You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives.
For example, “How can my boss criticize me even after knowing that I am giving it my
best?” Here, the client tends to ignore the positives that the boss has mentioned.
7. Demanding- Your desires are elevated so that others MUST obey you. (they have to...ought
to...got to...must)
For example, “This is the way it got to be. Any other way is plain stupid.”
In all of these cognitive distortions, the wiring statements for anger holds true. That is, they
look at the unfair attributes of a situation and form cognitive distortions based on it.
(Explain these distortions in connection to the wiring statements by taking examples from the
client's life. Explain to them that they need to connect the behaviours and irrational thoughts in
their real life by linking it to the wiring statements.)
Session 3: Rewiring
1. Discuss the client's log report of application activities from the previous week. Feedback on
the activities and ask them to continue with the application activities
2. Connect wiring to the rewiring (give examples from their life experiences).
In this session, we concentrate on rewiring. Rewiring is an approach that we use to change the
faulty wiring pattern that is formed for the trait. Explain to the client what the rewiring is for anger
and how it would be helpful for them to use it whenever they find themselves focusing on the unfair
attributes of the situation and cannot see the fair attributes. The rewiring for the trait anger is:
Enabling them to identify the fair attributes of a situation.
Enabling them to weigh between fair and unfair attributes of a situation.
Activities to be performed by the client:
1. Avoidance and Coping: By writing the situations which make you angry and reflecting on
the fair attributes of the situations is an effective way of dealing with them. It will help you
stay calm and composed when such situations occur in the future. It will also help you look
at the fair attributes in the situation and shift your focus from the unfair attributes.
Instructions: Spend at least half an hour carrying out this activity every week.
2. Alternative Thinking: Sometimes, there are more ways of looking at a situation than the
way you do. The best way is to look at the fair and unfair attributes of the situations. This
will help you weigh between the fair and unfair attributes of the situation.
3. Positive Self Statements: During a situation where you feel angry, it is always beneficial to
keep reminding yourself to stay calm and composed.
Instructions: You need to reflect on the positive statements for at least fifteen minutes, preferably in
the morning.
Instructions: Spend at least fifteen minutes to reflect on this, preferably at the end of the day.
4. Living in the present: Awakening to the present moment and all the thoughts and
sensations that accompany it, is the key to living a fulfilling life. The present moment is the
only time you have control over your life and so make the best use of it.
Instructions: Listen to the audios for at least fifteen minutes, preferably once in the morning and
once at night.
Real world Actions to be performed by the client:
Rewiring 1: Enabling them to identify the fair attributes of a situation.
Rewiring 2: Enabling them to weigh between fair and unfair attributes of a situation.
Level 1:
Choose a quiet place to sit in. Close your eyes and imagine in detail what is shown to you below:
Imagine your partner yells at you soon after he got back from the office for not keeping the
house clean and you feel raged, but before you yell back hold the feeling for few minutes,
and perform deep breathing for 5 minutes. Think and come up with one fair attributes of that
particular situation/person why he/she provoked your anger before responding like he might
have had a bad day at office. Whenever there is a situation that provokes your anger, take
some time off and think of the fair attributes of that situation which will help you calm as
you are seeing the other side of the coin.
Level 2:
You may encounter situations where you might get irritated/annoyed/angry because of a person or
where the event happening might get you irritated/annoyed/agitated, but before reacting, take time
off and analyze the fair attributes of the situation. Then go to the person who aggravated your anger,
and confirm by asking the person if the fair attributes you thought is true.
Some of the situations that you might encounter where you can apply the action.
You might come across a situation, where you are waiting for someone, that person taking
long time to reach and you have been waiting for a long time. Calm yourself by walking
over to a window where there is sunlight and analyze the fair attributes(What could have
caused their delay in arrival) and then confirm with the same person about the fair attributes
you thought of, which could be you asking the person if they were stuck in traffic.
By the end of the day, please rate your level of calmness by carrying out the action on a scale of 1-
10(1 being the low level of calmness and 10 being the highest level of calmness)
Session 4: Rewiring
Discuss the client's log report of application activities from the previous week. Feedback on
the activities and ask them to continue with the application activities
Activities to be performed by the client:
1. Enacting with a loved one: Enacting with a loved one helps you in learning better ways of
dealing with a situation rather than getting angry.
Instructions: You have to spend at least half an hour carrying out this activity, every week.
2. Empathy Training: Putting yourself in the other person's shoes enables you in getting a
new perspective.
Instructions: Spend at least 5 minutes everyday thinking from another person's perspective.
Real World Actions:
Level 3:
You may encounter situations where you might get irritated/annoyed/angry because of a person or
where the event happening might get you irritated/annoyed/agitated, before reacting, take time off
and analyze the fair and unfair attributes of the situation. Then go to the person who aggravated
your anger, and confirm by asking the person if the fair attributes you thought is true. After
confirming, try to weigh between the fair and unfair attributes to make a rational decision.
When something/someone provokes your anger, stop yourself before you say something
you'll soon regret, hold off for just a few moments, collect your thoughts by analyzing the
both your perspective and reflect on the fair and unfair attributes , then once you are calm,
go to that person and confirm your fair attributes and then weigh between the fair and unfair
attributes and then decide how you will express your anger assertively.
By the end of the day, please rate your level of calmness by carrying out the action on a scale of 1-
10(1 being the low level of calmness and 10 being the highest level of calmness)
Level 4:
Think of a person who irritates you the all the time, the task is to meet the person and stay calm.
Before meeting, try to analyze the fair attributes of why the person behaves that way.
By the end of the day, please rate your level of calmness by carrying out the action on a scale of 1-
10(1 being the low level of calmness and 10 being the highest level of calmness)
Level 5:
Mentor another individual who has anger issues (and who wants to change) and guide them on the
skills that you have learned. This person could be your friend/family member or colleague.
Session 5: Relapse Prevention
Discuss their log report of application activities from the previous week.
Check if the activities have been performed by the client and how effective it has been to
them.
Discuss the relapse prevention plan with the client.
Preventing relapse requires that we develop a plan tailored to maintaining new behavior. This
involves integrating into our behavior activities and coping skills. For example, help the clients look
at the fair attributes in a situation and help them weigh between fair and unfair attributes in a
situation.
1. Where are you still vulnerable to getting angry because of another person or situation?
2. What thinking errors make you still vulnerable to getting angry?
3. What would getting extremely angry mean to you?
4. List the consequences to your survivors, your family, your friends and yourself if you were
to lose your temper again.
5. Who do you talk to about your worries and potential problems?
6. What would you do if you encounter such situations in the future?
7. Predict few situations where you might have to face the trait again.
Make the clients understand that they have acquired the trait for quite sometime now and it would
be essential that they pursue the activities even after the completion of the sessions.
Session 6: Termination
Termination activities and Reflection Questions:
Discuss the client's log report of application activities from the previous week.
Reviewing what the client has learnt through the 6-week session.
Talk about the importance of wiring and rewiring, ask for clarifications (if any).
Discuss the factors that can make it difficult to manage the trait the client is working on.
Help them maintain their modified behaviour and cope with set backs (if any).
Discuss with the client if they have met their goals during the course.
a) How I Am Different Now?
b) My Safety Plan
c) Hopes and Dreams for the Future
