| Why Anger Resolution??
I created these materials after being asked in 1991 to develop an anger management group counseling model for a youth outpatient counseling program in Seattle, WA. Upon my research, I immediately became quite troubled with the resources I found. Most problematic was that much of what was being used in the area of anger management came from anger models put to practice on incarcerated persons, mostly men. This disturbed me as it took on a very pathological perspective on ANGER. In addition, much of what were called "criminal thinking errors" were used to show how anger was irrational! I wasn't working with criminals, I was working with 12-18 year old young men. I immediately became ANGRY. I decided to create a new model that looked at anger from a healthy perspective. A model with the goal of empowering persons in their anger rather than trying to manage/control it. I had great assistance with the project, from an intern that year, Nicky Nicotera, who gave me great feedback as the model grew. The original title was; Working with Anger, Resistance and Hopelessness in Youth I have found over the years that anger is a very confusing emotion in this country. There seem to be two major reasons. The first, is the Christian perspective on anger, that of anger needing to be "justified". Much of what people get angry about would not fit the Biblical standard for "justification", so people are stuck... This pattern has been passed down through the generations, many people are not even aware of it. The second, seems to come out of the very nature of our and other large societies. The idea that we don't "deserve" to be angry, or we don't have the "right" since we live in the great land, America. The needs of the system take precedent over the needs of ourselves, families, communities and cultures. There is a lot of anger about how we are living today as a society. Listen to rap, or grunge, or heavy metal music. You don't think those people are angry? Watch the news... listen to Rush Limbaugh, et al, now there is one angry fellow. Originally this training was meant for angry youth, but with the recent escalation of angry adults, e.g., the Unibomber, postal worker mass killings, the bombings in Oklahoma and the 1996 Olympics, and we can't forget the Freemen, or Road Rage, there are many, many angry adults as well. What I see is major frustration with how to change our society! People feeling really helpless and hopeless about how to control the quality of their own lives and communities. Unresolved anger and resentment which wasn't managed or controlled, then explodes! I have come to believe that you can't control anger. It is connected to the very life forces of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual beings. It has a deep, healthy purpose in our experience as human beings. Very basically, when our needs are not being met, we become ANGRY! If our anger is unresolved, it leads to other things like; addictions/victimization/dependencies, physical and emotional illness, hopelessness and despair. WARNING: There is a very subtle dynamic that is at work here. If you are an adult and you feel like you are not getting your needs met, you will certainly not allow children to do so either. What I have seen is this. Adults who experience a sense of empowerment in their lives do quite well with angry children. Adults who don't, who feel their choices are not their own, or they see themselves as victims, do poorly with angry children! They have nothing to offer them, except their own resentment and unresolved anger... Empowered adults on the other hand, have much to offer. For they don't fear or resent anger in children, they know to be angry is an opportunity for REACHING OUT, DECISION-MAKING & RESOLUTION. We can begin to put ourselves on a course for the resolution of our anger. If you really want to learn how to help resolve anger, then this training is for you. If on the other hand, you only want to learn how to control angry persons, you will be greatly disappointed. But there are many, many anger management/control models out there for you to choose from that purport to do just that. You won't have to look very far...
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