HOW COUNSELLING HELPED ME TO MANAGE MY ANGER ISSUES
Throughout my life, I have struggled with keeping my anger under control. I would regularly lash out at those around me, often overreacting to even the smallest of things. This behaviour was causing issues in all of my relationships and was seriously affecting my mental health. I was not a nice person to be around. I knew it was time for me to seek help, and that's when I decided to research counselling that was available near me. The journey that brought me to seek help with my anger management wasn't easy, but with the help of my counsellor, I was able to learn what triggered my anger issues and how I could limit my reaction to the triggers in a healthy and safe way.
In the beginning, my counsellor helped me to identify the root causes of what was making me so angry. We worked hard to dig into my past experiences, my upbringing and some traumatic events in my past that could have contributed to why I was feeling so angry about everything. This process helped me to gain a better insight into why I was behaving in the way I was, and enabled me to work on those underlying issues.
My counsellor coached me in various coping strategies that would help me to manage my anger before it built up. These exercises included some deep breathing, some mindfulness techniques and general anger management skills, such as walking away or pausing before reacting to something that had made me feel triggered. These strategies enabled me to react to things much more slowly, and respond to difficult situations in a much calmer manner.
Another major benefit of beginning counselling was being given the opportunity to self-reflect and become more self-aware. My counsellor taught me to recognise the feelings rising within my body when I became angry and taught me to take a step back before I reacted. These strategies helped me gain some control over my behaviour and avoided me saying things that I would later come to regret.
The final stages of my recovery from overwhelming anger led to me developing, alongside my counsellor, a maintenance plan in order to keep my anger under control moving forward. This plan involved setting goals, monitoring my progress and seeking help whenever I felt I needed it. I have carried on with my therapy sessions to support me in other areas of life and continue to use the coping mechanisms I learned in counselling to manage my anger.
I would say counselling was an essential part of my journey to manage my anger issues. It gave me the tools and support I didn't realise I needed to identify the root cause of my anger, develop healthy coping strategies and improve my all-round communication skills. These days, I am much better at controlling my angry outbursts and I enjoy much better relationships with those around me. I would say if you are struggling with anger issues, I would highly recommend seeking help from The Hampshire Hypnotherapy and Counselling Centre.
The journey will not be easy, but it will be so worth it.
