Anger and Relationships

Any Anger Management program will explain that anger itself is normal. What anger (and any emotion) is, is information. Anger itself is telling us that we don't like what we're experiencing and we might have to do something about it.

What's not o.k. is when our response is one of hostility, violence and abuse. What we want in our relationships is to feel connected, feel heard, feel acknowledged and understood. When that doesn't occur, fight, flight or numbing out can occur. The fight response occurs when we feel threatened and our go to is to lash out. As the saying goes "hurt people, hurt people". In relationships. WE need to recognize when we are getting anger, and make healthy choices. We take timeouts, use relaxation techniques, choose our words carefully, watch our tone and volume, and be aware of our body language. The next piece is using respectful communication skills so that then we can best be heard and understood and that's on us. Learn more about making healthy choices. -

Rod Chant MSW RSW RCC