Topic: anger-management

Question: How can I be less angry?
I get really mad easily at my parents and family.

Answer (from Sherry Katz, LCSWCouples and Family Therapist, LCSW):
Anger is usually pain and frustration which cannot be expressed directly to people in your surroundings.How someone can be less angry is by directly saying your thoughts and feelings.One approach is to to tell either or both parent that you would like them to hear you.Knowing you tried to be heard adds to your own self-respect, regardless of their willingness to do as you ask.If you are simply left with no chance to make yourself understood by them, then look for ways to expand your social support system so you do have people who willingly hear and talk with you.Even if social media groups are the only format available to you, it is at least some type of human interaction and interest in who you are

Answer (from Lauren Ostrowski, MA, LPC, NCC, BC-TMH, CCTP, CCHI tailor my therapeutic approach to each client's strengths and goals):
Anger is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are angry and you can talk about your feelings, that would be very helpful. Anger usually comes along with something else, like feeling sad, worried, overwhelmed, confused, and many others. Consider looking at what you notice in addition to anger and you may have a different starting point. If you get along well with friends and don't get angry with them, look at the differences. Do you feel criticized by your parents or family? Misunderstood? There could be any number of things.I wonder if you start getting angry very slowly and it builds or if it happens quickly. Try to keep an eye on the patterns and see if you can stop and look at what else is going on as you start to get angry. Anger is a real emotion in itself. It almost always connects to something else as well.