Certified Anger Management Treatment Professional: Certification Course

CPD

Handouts

Speaker

Objectives

1. Analyze the neurobiology of anger and catalogue the brain regions involved in processing anger.
2. Differentiate between the phases of the anger cycle and communicate how this informs clinical practice.
3. Evaluate current trends in managing anger in substance abuse treatment.
4. Inspect the connection between anger, violence and abuse.
5. Characterize how clients’ can be taught to identify triggers so they can choose an appropriate response strategy.
6. Use in-session mindfulness-based strategies to engage reluctant and treatment-resistant clients.
7. Manage responses to dysfunctional thoughts and judgmental beliefs with skills that effectively intervene in these processes.
8. Reduce the body’s anger response with mindfulness training and diaphragmatic breathing techniques that diminish the body’s fight-or-flight response.
9. Teach clients how to communicate anger constructively with assertiveness techniques.
10. Develop clients’ emotional vocabulary to help them handle conflict without aggression.
11. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis intervention to demonstrate the impact of “old anger” on clients’ lives.
12. Employ clinical strategies that help avoid automatic defensiveness in clients and allow you to work safely with aggressive personalities.

Outline

The Neuroscience of the Angry Brain

• Anger systems in the brain
• The fight-flight-freeze response of anger
• Connections between the frontal and temporoparietal region
• How breathing affects the survival brain
• Why fighting/hiding anger doesn’t work

Anger and Co-Occurring Disorders: Trauma, Addiction, Depression and More

• The relationship between anger and addiction
• Intermittent Explosive Disorder
• ODD
• Bipolar Disorder
• When anxiety presents as anger
• The role of anger in depression
• Anger after trauma

Shame, Fear, Guilt and the Underlying Causes of Anger

• Avoidance, shame, fear and guilt
• The connection between anger and grief
• The cycle of anger
• How anger styles inform your clinical approach
  • Masked anger
  • Explosive anger
  • Chronic anger
  • Passive aggressive

The Intersection of Anger and Abuse

• Assessment of violence potential
• Is domestic abuse an anger management problem?
• Controlling others

Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning

• Create a safe therapeutic environment
• Build emotional vocabulary
• Establish short-term and long-term goals
• Strategies for working with groups

Teach Clients to Identify Anger Triggers

• How to use anger logs with clients
• Monitoring physiological sensations of anger
• Identify words and actions that escalate
• Practical goals and commitment to change
• Assessing for client strengths

Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques To Derail Anger in the Moment

• Reset anger with breath work
• Progressive muscle relaxation techniques to maintain control
• Mindful anger techniques and choice awareness
• Guided imagery to put clients in charge of anger
• The Lifesaver Technique

Cognitive Approaches to Challenge the Dysfunctional Thoughts Behind Anger

• CBT exercises to reduce negative self-talk
• Cognitive restructuring and defusion from judgmental thoughts
• Problem-solving and hypothetical situation training
• Creative thought stopping tools for emotional regulation
• Distraction and disengagement strategies

Therapeutic Strategies to Release Old Anger and Lingering Resentments

• Anger and identity
• The cost of avoidance
• Why forgiveness (and self-forgiveness) is never easy
• Prerequisites to letting go of the past
• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis intervention
• Forgiveness interventions to “turn off” resentment

Teach Clients to Constructively Communicate Anger

• Assertiveness training techniques
• Communicate anger effectively with “I” statements
• The active role of acceptance
• Mindfully respond to anger in interpersonal relationships
• Defuse anger with humor and other conflict resolution strategies

Anger Management Strategies for Kids and Adolescents

• How anger escalates in kids
• Normalizing anger as a healthy emotion
• Communication skills to alleviate frustration
• Coping skills for stress and anxiety
• Feelings thermometer – connect feelings to coping skills

Anger Management for Relationships

• When mundane resentments spiral out of control
• Interventions to overcome the blame habit
• Teach clients active listening skills
• Strategies to build emotional intelligence in couples

Risks and Limitations of Anger Management Therapy

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Case Managers
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals
• School Counselors
• School Psychologists
• School Social Workers

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