Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a kind of talking therapy. I use CBT for anger issues as part of my anger management sessions with clients.
How CBT for Anger Issues Works
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is great for helping you look and assess what situations trigger your anger, and how these situations affect your thoughts, feelings and reactions.
Anger is very often a result of what happens when you feel like someone or something does not meet your expectations.
Maybe you expected your partner to be home on time and they wasn’t. Or maybe you expected the UK to stay in the EU and we didn’t. Or maybe you expected your car insurance renewal to be cheaper, but it wasn’t.
All of the above situations are normally out of your control, but what you can control is the way you react to them.
When using CBT for anger, you can focus on multiple situations like the above and follow a basic process for highlighting your behaviour so you can change it next time.
A Simple CBT Model for Anger Issues
You can try using CBT for anger issues yourself by following a simple model using 4 simple steps.
- The Situation
Think back to a time in the past when you lost your temper and write down what it was that triggered you and why.
- Your Thoughts
Now ask yourself what the situation made you think, and then write down what you think that means about you.
- Your Feelings
Think about how the above situation made you feel both physically and mentally. Write down how intensely you felt these feelings on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being extremely intense).
- Your Reaction
Now write down what you did in reaction to the situation and then write down why you reacted that way.
You should then ask yourself if you are happy with your reaction.
Once you have completed the CBT or Anger exercise, you should go through each step and ask yourself what you would do differently if you could replay the same situation in order to prevent the same thoughts, feelings and reactions from occurring.
I always have my clients run through 3 to 5 different situations in our initial anger management sessions in order to get a deeper understanding of the various situations that trigger their anger.
By understanding your anger triggers in more depth you should be able to start spotting trends in exactly what triggers your anger and patterns in your behaviour so you can start working on changing them.
Work with Me on Anger Issues
I help people with anger problems every day and use CBT for anger issues along with various other anger management strategies.
If you’d like help dealing with your anger issues then click here to read about my anger management coaching or use the button below to book a free consultation call with me.
You can also call, text or chat via WhatsApp with me on 07907 599 444.
Disclaimer: I am a professional coach with advanced training and experience in helping people in areas of mental health, but I am not a qualified medical professional.