Anger Management 2
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director, AllCEUs
AllCEUs.com Unlimited CEUs and Specialty Certifications $59

Objectives
 Explore multiple skills necessary for Anger
Management
 Mindful self-awareness
 Distress tolerance
 Values clarification/Goal setting
 Motivational enhancement skills
 Cognitive behavioral skills
 Cognitive processing skills
 Communication skills
 Compassion focused skills
 Self-esteem building skills
 Wellness skills (Vulnerability identification and prevention)

Mindful Self-Awareness
 Becoming aware of your physical, emotional and
mental state in the present moment by
 Doing regular mindfulness minutes
 Identifying your vulnerabilities and adjusting accordingly
 Learning to identify the components of your feelings’
 Emotional
 Thoughts
 Physical sensations
 Behavioral urges

Distress Tolerance
 Distract don’t react
 Ride the wave
 Positive coping thoughts or affirmations
 Mindful breathing
 Do the opposite
 Sublimation

Values Clarification/Goal Setting
 What are your values…things you want to be
known for? (compassion, creativity, loyalty,
patience, tolerance, determination, honesty,
faithfulness, courage, optimism, integrity)
 In your relationships with others
 In your work
 What is important to you…
 In 5 years what do you need to have to be content?
 Alternate exercise: What 20 things do you need to be
happy… Eliminate until 2 things at a time until there
are 6 left

Acceptance and Commitment Interventions
 Ask why does client consider anger to be a problem?
 Determine if anger is part of experiential avoidance
 Determine if anger is ‘instrumental’ – ie to manipulate others
 Distinguish feeling angry from acting aggressively
 Increase body awareness: mindfulness of physical sensations
that indicate anger is rising.
 Defusion around unhelpful cognitions that feed anger or justify
aggressive behavior.
 Increase awareness of anger triggers
 Learn to ‘surf’ anger.
 Connect with values: what sort of partner/parent/ friend/
worker do you want to be?
 Imaginary and in vivo rehearsal of values-consistent responses

Motivational Enhancement
Staying the Same Changing
Benefits Emotional
Mental
Physical
Social
Environmental/financial
Emotional
Mental
Physical
Social
Environmental/financial
Drawbacks Emotional
Mental
Physical
Social
Environmental/financial
Emotional
Mental
Physical
Social
Environmental/financial

CBT
 Cognitive Distortions and Unhelpful Thoughts
 All or Nothing // Overgeneralizing
 Mind Reading // Intention forecasting
 Feelings are facts
 Tunnel vision
 Personalization
 Blaming
 Magnification
 Fallacy of fairness
 Collecting straws

CBT
 ABCs
 Activating Event
 Beliefs
 Consequences
 Dispute unhelpful beliefs
 Evaluate the best use of your energy

CPT
 Play out the tape…
 X happened and I got angry because…. which is related to which
threat (rejection, failure, loss of control, the unknown)
 What is the evidence for and against
 Do I have tunnel vision/focused on just one aspect
 How might I have caused or contributed to the event
 What else might have contributed to the other person’s reaction
 Am I using all or none terms
 Am I confusing something that is possible with something
that is likely?
 Are your reactions based on feelings or facts?

Communication
 Stay seated or both people go on a walk side by side
 One person talks at a time
 Person 1 states her position
 Person 2 listens and paraphrases what she think she heard
 Person 1 confirms or corrects.
This process repeats until person 1 feels understood.
 Then person 2 gets to state her perspective
 Person 1 listens and paraphrases what she think she heard
 Person 2 confirms or corrects.
This process repeats until both people feel understood and
the problem is resolved or tabled for later

Communication
 Try to start with something positive…
 I appreciate that…
 Do not use “but”
 No interrupting
 One problem at a time
 Identify your part in the situation (if any)
 Use objective, measurable language
 Avoid using all or nothing terms
 Avoid catastrophizing
 Propose solutions

Compassion
 Instead of staying angry at yourself for doing
something wrong or failing at something
 Think about what your values are regarding how to treat
people. Treat yourself that way
 Think what you would say to your child
 Identify what you can learn from the situation
 Instead of staying angry at others
 Think about what your values are regarding how to treat
people, and choose a consistent course of action
 Identify 3 alternate reasons this may have happened
 If it is to manipulate others to do something for you or to
get attention…do it yourself.

Self-Esteem
 Lack of self-esteem contributes to constantly
seeking external approval and being
hypersensitive to threats of rejection and/or
isolation
 Values based activities build self esteem
 A stranger on the street gives you an ugly look
 You take it as a personal rejection
 Your initial response is to lash out
 You want to be thought of as a compassionate, caring
person
 Instead you smile and say good morning

Self-Esteem Enhancement Planning
 Who I Am vs. Who I Want to Be Activity
 Top 5 Values Activity
 What can you do to build them
 Keep a journal each day of what you did to embody them
 Value-A-Day
 The Friends You Keep (Mirror Exercise)
 “Way to Go!” List (Tear down brick wall, or build up eggs)
 Motivational sayings about…
 Rejection/Acceptance
 Failure/Success
 The Unknown/Taking Chances
 Loss of Control / Trust /Faith

Wellness Skills
 Increase the happy
 Don’t sweat the small stuff
 Keep a gratitude journal
 Put a priority on relaxation
 Limit the irritants
 Counter every negative with a positive
 Get quality sleep
 Eat a healthy diet
 Exercise
 Address pain issues

Wellness Skills
 Know yourself and be your best friend
 Develop a social support system
 Make your environment welcoming and
comfortable

Summary
 Anger is a response to a threat
 As children many things can be threatening, and a
single event can be overgeneralized
 Adults may need to challenge those beliefs
 Level the playing field by taking care of yourself like
you would care for your child
 Address vulnerabilities
 Learn about your anger triggers
 Develop coping strategies to deal with threats of
rejection, isolation, failure, the unknown and loss of
control

Summary
 Identify your values and values-consistent reactions
to threats (note card)
 Learn ways do de-escalate
 Breathe
 Strengths-based coping mantra
 Disengage
 Take a walk
 Phone a friend
 Distract
 Urge/Feelings surf
 Practice, practice, practice….
 Keep an anger log to track your progress