Great News! We have our speakers set for the 2009 Canadian Association of Anger Solutions Professionals Retreat. It is another great lineup of excellent speakers, with our focus this year being on building on the foundation that has been laid up to now. Watch this blog often, as we profile our speakers and keep you updated on all the great things we have in store for the 2009 Retreat.
Also, please check out the CAASP's new website - still under development, but coming along: http://www.angerpros.com/.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Anger is Not Necessarily a Problem
It is common these days to hear about people with "anger management issues". I even saw a blog the other day about "reverse anger management". It occured to me that perhaps this is a good time to clarify exactly what anger is, and when it becomes a "problem".
First, lets start with the definition of anger. Anger is NOT as many would like to believe - a behaviour or set of behaviours. Rather, anger is an emotion. It can range in intensities from mild irritation to red hot rage, and occurs naturally in every human being. Anger is a natural emotion, as natural as is happiness, sadness, and fear.
Anger serves a purpose - it is an indicator that there is something in our lives that is not right - that requires change, improvement, or attention. Anger has been the catalyst for major positive change in the world - take the Civil Rights Movement as an example.
Anger as an emotion is not something that can or should be managed or controlled. You don't manage love or joy, do you? Do you try to manage fear? Sure you do, but how successful are you with that effort? Emotions cannot be managed. They exist to be felt and experienced. Trying to manage anger is like trying to convince an empty belly that it is not really hungry.
Anger only becomes a problem at the point of decision. Let me explain. Whenever you experience an emotion, you make a choice about how you wish to express that feeling. When you're happy you may laugh or you may cry. You may even do both. When you are afraid, your body's physiology will respond accordingly, but you may choose to fight or you may choose to flee. When you experience anger, the same is true. You will experience the physiological response, but you will also make a choice about what do do with your feelings. Some people bottle up their emotions in an attempt to "control" them. This approach may work in the short run, but often results in serious illness as the body reacts to the extended containment of negative energy. Some people allow their emotions to spill all over - with tears, or with cursing, and other aggressive behaviours. Most of these choices occur at the subconscious level - thereby causing the average person to believe that anger and the behaviours that accompany it are one and the same.
This much is clear: that what people do with their anger is not the same as the anger itself. Anger only becomes a problem when the people experiencing it make poor choices about how to express it. Then, those people do not need a crash course in how to "manage" their anger; they need to be taught a decision making model so that they become conscious about their feelings and the choices they make around expressing those emotions. An ancient proverb says (and I'm paraphrasing) - if you take a man fishing, he will eat for a day; if you teach that man to fish, he will eat for life. Anger Solutions is about teaching you to fish. We teach you how to evaluate each anger-inducing situation; how to make right decisions; and how to behave in ways that will generate positive outcomes.
Want to know more? Visit our website: http://www.angersolution.com/ to learn about Anger Solutions - the single best alternative to traditional anger management in the world.
First, lets start with the definition of anger. Anger is NOT as many would like to believe - a behaviour or set of behaviours. Rather, anger is an emotion. It can range in intensities from mild irritation to red hot rage, and occurs naturally in every human being. Anger is a natural emotion, as natural as is happiness, sadness, and fear.
Anger serves a purpose - it is an indicator that there is something in our lives that is not right - that requires change, improvement, or attention. Anger has been the catalyst for major positive change in the world - take the Civil Rights Movement as an example.
Anger as an emotion is not something that can or should be managed or controlled. You don't manage love or joy, do you? Do you try to manage fear? Sure you do, but how successful are you with that effort? Emotions cannot be managed. They exist to be felt and experienced. Trying to manage anger is like trying to convince an empty belly that it is not really hungry.
Anger only becomes a problem at the point of decision. Let me explain. Whenever you experience an emotion, you make a choice about how you wish to express that feeling. When you're happy you may laugh or you may cry. You may even do both. When you are afraid, your body's physiology will respond accordingly, but you may choose to fight or you may choose to flee. When you experience anger, the same is true. You will experience the physiological response, but you will also make a choice about what do do with your feelings. Some people bottle up their emotions in an attempt to "control" them. This approach may work in the short run, but often results in serious illness as the body reacts to the extended containment of negative energy. Some people allow their emotions to spill all over - with tears, or with cursing, and other aggressive behaviours. Most of these choices occur at the subconscious level - thereby causing the average person to believe that anger and the behaviours that accompany it are one and the same.
This much is clear: that what people do with their anger is not the same as the anger itself. Anger only becomes a problem when the people experiencing it make poor choices about how to express it. Then, those people do not need a crash course in how to "manage" their anger; they need to be taught a decision making model so that they become conscious about their feelings and the choices they make around expressing those emotions. An ancient proverb says (and I'm paraphrasing) - if you take a man fishing, he will eat for a day; if you teach that man to fish, he will eat for life. Anger Solutions is about teaching you to fish. We teach you how to evaluate each anger-inducing situation; how to make right decisions; and how to behave in ways that will generate positive outcomes.
Want to know more? Visit our website: http://www.angersolution.com/ to learn about Anger Solutions - the single best alternative to traditional anger management in the world.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Canadian Association for Anger Solutions Pros Has a New Home
Well, it's finally here! The Canadian Association for Anger Solutions Professionals finally has its own stand-alone website! Visit the site at http://www.angerpros.com. There is more to come of course, but the basic site is up and running and we are very pleased to have reached this next stage in the association's development.
This blog will continue to operate - and of course, as members of the CAASP people can feel free to contribute to this blog and to share your ideas and stories of success with Anger Solutions.
Don't forget the retreat is September 2-4, 2008 in Barrie, Ontario. Save the date!
This blog will continue to operate - and of course, as members of the CAASP people can feel free to contribute to this blog and to share your ideas and stories of success with Anger Solutions.
Don't forget the retreat is September 2-4, 2008 in Barrie, Ontario. Save the date!
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's TIME! Time to Plan for Retreat 2009. Are You In?
The CAASP Retreat is scheduled for September 2-4, 2009. Are you coming? You don't want to miss this event! It is a great opportunity for us as Anger Solutions professionals to come together - to share best practices, to engage in witty, enlightening, and inspirational discussions, and to build on the dream of making Anger Solutions the first and best choice for anger programs in Canada and the world. If you missed last year's retreat, SAVE THIS DATE! September 2-4, 2009. Here is a little taste of what was, and is to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)