Anger
Though anger is an emotion that has its place, many of us can feel we are getting angry with insufficient cause, at times we wish we hadn’t, and at a level we don’t understand.
Working with a counsellor to explore our anger and other parts of ourselves can help to bring about the change for a more peaceful and chosen life.
Experiences of Anger
In certain situations, we may find we have an urgent, driving need to make ourselves heard – or not to hear something that feels unfair and unbearable in that moment. This urgent need can drive us to act in ways we feel, in the heat of things, we desperately need or are entitled to, and which we may later regret.
Anger can be disruptive to our relationships, further complicating problems we may be facing. Things we’ve said or done when angry can leave us feeling ashamed and isolated, making things harder still, and setting us up for further conflict.
The guilt we might feel for being angry with our children, the discomfort of a having been short with a colleague, ongoing tension with a partner, can bring further difficulty to life. We may feel disappointment at ourselves for not having brought the better parts of ourselves to an encounter, and not acted as we would have wished.
How Counselling and Therapy can help with Anger
Often, clients ask for coping strategies, or they may have been shown the in the past. These strategies - counting to ten or taking time out - help when you remember to, can, and want to apply them in the moment. However, they’re only what the name suggests: a way of coping with a continuing problem. Working with a counsellor and therapist can go deeper than that, so you don’t feel uncontrolled, inappropriate, disruptive anger any more.
Exploring the parts of ourselves that feel angry, vulnerable, unheard or unacceptable, with someone who hears and continues to respect and value you can enable these deep feelings to change, letting you live in a less reactive, more balanced and chosen way with others and yourself.