An anger management therapist can help you identify the signs of impending anger and help you learn how to manage them. The real trick is first acknowledging you could benefit from anger management therapy. It can be difficult to know if an anger management therapist is the right choice for you, if it’s something you need, or if it can even be beneficial. Take a look at the following three signs and then decide for yourself.
Sign #1: Physical Signs of Anger
Some of the first and most recognizable signs of anger issues are physical symptoms. The most common include:
● Clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth
● Frequent headaches
● Stomach aches
● Rapid heart rate or racing heart
● Sweaty palms
● Shaking hands or trembling
● Feeling hot in the face and neck
It can be hard to recognize extreme anger when it hits. Pay attention to your physical reaction to everyday events. If you find that you have any of these physical signs, your anger could be extreme and therapy may be helpful in managing the way you respond and in learning heightened self-awareness.
Sign #2: Keeping a Lid on Your Anger
Anger issues are often identifiable by how you feel about your anger. Do you feel like you have to hold it in? Like you need to clamp down on your feelings, so they don’t explode? If your anger sometimes feels like it’s bubbling up under the surface, so close you could touch it, but that you must consciously keep a hold on it, that is a sign you could benefit from therapy. One of the tools you’ll learn is how to address those feelings and express them in an appropriate way, a way that doesn’t make you feel worried about how others view it and if you will hurt them in the process.
Sign #3: You Find Yourself Struggling to Compromise
Anger issues can often lead you to feel misunderstood or overly criticized, like others challenge your authority regularly, or like other people’s responses to you often leads to confrontation. Everyone feels like this from time to time, but if it’s a common occurrence or the feelings seem like they come every day, that’s excessive.
The feelings are real, but the trigger and the reactions are unique to those with anger issues. Therapy can help you recognize the irrational responses and identify more productive responses to tricky or triggering situations. You’ll learn to focus on the problem instead of the way people address it, as well as learning tools to prepare yourself for emotionally charged situations and conversations.
There’s No Shame in Seeing an Anger Management Therapist
Anger management sometimes has a negative association as being something courts or the justice system mandates. While this is sometimes the case, the majority of therapy for anger issues is voluntarily chosen by individuals to help them cope with everyday life.
Whether you have a demanding job, family obligations that feel overwhelming, or stressful life events that produce an excessive response to anger, you’re not alone. And there are ways to move past the anger and have a more peaceful life. At Positive Living Psychotherapy, we provide a safe space to talk about your anger and to gain the tools you need to manage it. Schedule an appointment with an anger management therapist today or contact us for more information.