It’s OK to feel angry sometimes. Anger, fear and other primal emotions are felt by all of us at times – they are a necessary and biologically programmed response designed to protect us. But when anger becomes a constant in your life, is unnecessary, or is out of proportion, it can create problems for you and those you care about.
That’s when talking to someone can help. Counselling can help you understand what’s behind your anger and teach you different and more respectful ways to communicate intense feelings. Learning and understanding anger management techniques including new ways to communicate is important for you to make meaningful and lasting changes in your life.
Understanding anger
When you feel unable to cope with stress or have unresolved issues, these frustrations can build up and explode in anger, often directed at the people closest to you.
Unless you’re specifically trained, it can be hard to find the right words to describe how you’re feeling. Men often have difficulty talking about our fears, feelings, grief and loss, and finding constructive ways to deal with them. The people around you have no way of knowing the turmoil you’re going through, leaving you feeling frustrated and like nobody understands.
Talking to a trained counsellor about anger management can help you learn healthier ways to recognise, communicate and cope with your frustration.
Gaining perspective and insight
In many situations in life, we find that looking at an issue from a different angle, or hearing a different point of view can help us find a path to resolving issues.
Getting to know yourself better by taking an outside view and examining your thoughts and feelings is a crucial step in anger management. With better awareness of what makes you tick, you can feel more at peace with yourself, improve your self-esteem and become more confident in the rest of your life, including your relationships.
A problem shared…
Talking to someone outside of your family and friends gives you the freedom to talk about things you wouldn’t normally discuss with them. Counselling is all about teamwork – you can confide in someone who listens to you and works with you to develop a realistic anger management plan to help you learn to cope in healthy ways and to feel better.
Ready to make a change?
If you need to talk to someone, give one of our MensLine Australia counsellors a call on 1300 78 99 78 or access free video and online counselling.