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Managing Anger with CBT For Dummies
Defuse your anger with CBT
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a hugely popular self-help technique, which teaches you how to break free from destructive or negative behaviors and make positive changes to both your thoughts and your actions. This practical guide to managing anger with CBT will help you to understand your anger, identify solutions to your problems, and maintain your gains and avoid relapse.
This concise, user-friendly guide provides focused advice on defusing anger using proven CBT techniques. You'll discover how to keep your anger under control and identify the negative thought processes that lead to angry outbursts.
Shows you how to use CBT to help you react positively to frustrating situations Helps you learn to assert yourself effectively without losing your temper Gives you tried-and-true CBT techniques to let go of unhealthy angerIf you're struggling with anger management, Managing Anger with CBT For Dummies gives you the tools you need to keep your cool and live a happier, more balanced life.
- GenresNonfiction
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2012
20 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 17, 2021
Good Start Toward Better Emotional Control - With tempers flaring during COVID 19 crisis, it has been a good time to enhance my skills in this arena. When I saw this title, it seemed to be an attractive choice as I was also interested in learning about CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) as a leading therapeutic approach as indicated in Kennedy’s “Common Struggle”” and Morton’s “Are You OK” (see my reviews).
The book does provide beneficial background and assistance in both regards, although one can see where the help of a skilled therapist and/or support group would be important for assistance and the follow through for truly effective treatment. British Psychologist Bloxham does her best to lay out the different aspects in a clear and straightforward manner (thus the UK spellings).
In particular, the book consists of an Introduction, and 11 chapters divided into 4 parts. Part I deals with “The Knowledge: Anger, CBT and Change:” (1) Things You Need to Know About Anger, and (2) Knowing About CBT and Making Changes. Part II addresses “Managing Your Anger: Putting CBT into Action:” (3) Investigating Your Own Anger, (4) Cooling Down Your Angry Thinking, (5) Dealing with Your Real Feelings, (6) Changing Your Angry Behaviour, and (7) Using Assertiveness to Bypass Anger. Part III concerns “Changing for the Better, Changing for Good:” (8) Changing Old Habits for New, and (9) Getting Past Setbacks and Finding Support. Finally, Part IV offers “The Part of Tens:” (10) Ten Tips to Put Out the Fire When You're Angry, and (11) Ten Tips for Dealing with Angry People. There is also a useful Index.
At around 200 pages, the text reads easily and moves along with many insights and nuggets along the way. For instance, Bloxham makes clear upfront, “CBT is to help you change your behaviour by making changes to your thinking style and automatic beliefs.” She explains that “CBT studies for over more than 40 years show that human thinking and behaviour are learned;” and that “The world you grow up in, your culture and family teach you what CBT calls a script – a set of reactions to anger…” A little later, the author details that “Because your thinking and beliefs are learned, you always have choices and chances to learn new habits . . . CBT explains human problems by showing how your thinking and the ways you see life affect your feelings, reactions and behaviours. Thinking about people and situations differently is what reduces, manages or changes your reactions.”
The books goes on to aid in describing and managing angry reactions. As an example, the author states “Tuning in to your automatic thoughts and underlying beliefs is part of using CBT to manage anger.” More specifically, she indicates, “CBT gives you ways to tackle anger better by recognising your typical anger triggers, spotting angry thoughts and beliefs, tracking how they’re affecting your feelings, and choosing behaviours with the best long-term effects.” Later, she advises “When feeling attacked, suspicious or resentful. . . own up to how you feel and admit that the results of your angry behaviour are within your control.” Her advice includes to “search for facts or evidence . . . [to] give you helpful, calmer ways to see the situation. [Such actions] CBT calls balancing your thinking in this way rational reappraisal” (see my review Rucker’s “Mind Tools” as it also deals with different aspects of brain use as does Joseph on “The Trivium”). In this regard, she also includes that “CBT studies show that mindfulness helps to prevent relapse in depression, which, like anger, involves unhelpful negative thinking” (see also Kolt’s “The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Managing Your Anger”).
As indicated, the real time consuming and high yield parts of the book lie in the exercises that appear throughout, but never the less reading and doing what one can provides a good start towards better emotional control.
The book does provide beneficial background and assistance in both regards, although one can see where the help of a skilled therapist and/or support group would be important for assistance and the follow through for truly effective treatment. British Psychologist Bloxham does her best to lay out the different aspects in a clear and straightforward manner (thus the UK spellings).
In particular, the book consists of an Introduction, and 11 chapters divided into 4 parts. Part I deals with “The Knowledge: Anger, CBT and Change:” (1) Things You Need to Know About Anger, and (2) Knowing About CBT and Making Changes. Part II addresses “Managing Your Anger: Putting CBT into Action:” (3) Investigating Your Own Anger, (4) Cooling Down Your Angry Thinking, (5) Dealing with Your Real Feelings, (6) Changing Your Angry Behaviour, and (7) Using Assertiveness to Bypass Anger. Part III concerns “Changing for the Better, Changing for Good:” (8) Changing Old Habits for New, and (9) Getting Past Setbacks and Finding Support. Finally, Part IV offers “The Part of Tens:” (10) Ten Tips to Put Out the Fire When You're Angry, and (11) Ten Tips for Dealing with Angry People. There is also a useful Index.
At around 200 pages, the text reads easily and moves along with many insights and nuggets along the way. For instance, Bloxham makes clear upfront, “CBT is to help you change your behaviour by making changes to your thinking style and automatic beliefs.” She explains that “CBT studies for over more than 40 years show that human thinking and behaviour are learned;” and that “The world you grow up in, your culture and family teach you what CBT calls a script – a set of reactions to anger…” A little later, the author details that “Because your thinking and beliefs are learned, you always have choices and chances to learn new habits . . . CBT explains human problems by showing how your thinking and the ways you see life affect your feelings, reactions and behaviours. Thinking about people and situations differently is what reduces, manages or changes your reactions.”
The books goes on to aid in describing and managing angry reactions. As an example, the author states “Tuning in to your automatic thoughts and underlying beliefs is part of using CBT to manage anger.” More specifically, she indicates, “CBT gives you ways to tackle anger better by recognising your typical anger triggers, spotting angry thoughts and beliefs, tracking how they’re affecting your feelings, and choosing behaviours with the best long-term effects.” Later, she advises “When feeling attacked, suspicious or resentful. . . own up to how you feel and admit that the results of your angry behaviour are within your control.” Her advice includes to “search for facts or evidence . . . [to] give you helpful, calmer ways to see the situation. [Such actions] CBT calls balancing your thinking in this way rational reappraisal” (see my review Rucker’s “Mind Tools” as it also deals with different aspects of brain use as does Joseph on “The Trivium”). In this regard, she also includes that “CBT studies show that mindfulness helps to prevent relapse in depression, which, like anger, involves unhelpful negative thinking” (see also Kolt’s “The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Managing Your Anger”).
As indicated, the real time consuming and high yield parts of the book lie in the exercises that appear throughout, but never the less reading and doing what one can provides a good start towards better emotional control.
May 30, 2019
Not worth reading unless you have serious anger issues and don't know where to start handling them. Lots of mindfulness stuff that I already work on.
Read
October 13, 2016Loved it! I think it should be part of the high school curriculum in Australia. There are many useful exercises for teens coping with stress and frustration. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews