Hypnotherapy to Help with Excessive Anger: by Dublin based hypnotherapist Ailish McGrath

 

Anger

 

We all know what anger is, and we’ve all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage.
 

We will describe the emotion and the sensations in such terms as ‘seeing red’, ‘burning hot’, ‘white/icy cold anger’, ‘feeling furious’, ‘going mad’, ‘losing it’ and so on.
 

It can be a very strong energy that we can at times feel out of control with and sometimes the anger can be so intense that we scare ourselves and others with our outbursts.
 

Anger can get to the point where we feel compelled to express the emotion physically and we can cause harm to ourselves or others acting out of our anger in violence.
 

The Positive Purpose of Anger

 
Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. It arises in us as a defence mechanism when we are physically threatened– the anger gives us a surge of energy to fight an opponent we may otherwise feel too frightened to confront.
 

Anger can also arise when we feel our reputation or status is threatened. For example when we are not been taken seriously, when we are blamed for something we haven’t done, when we feel we are being put down or taken for granted or for a ‘fool’ and so on.
 

The anger can supply us with the energy to stand up for ourselves or say something that we find is difficult to say otherwise.
 

Anger can help us out of depression or give us the momentum to better our situation or stop being victimised.
 

Constructive expression of anger (e.g channelling it in sports or martial arts, political debating and organisation of people rights movements, expression in art and expression of anger in conversation and to establish healthy boundaries in relationships etc) can be healthy and part of normal interaction with others.
 

Out of Control Anger

 
But when anger gets out of control and turns destructive towards the self or towards others, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in personal relationships, and in the overall quality of our life. And you can feel as though you’re at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.
 

Not being able to control, deal with or express anger in a safe way can be highly problematical.
 

Sometimes it can happen that we learn to translate all emotions as anger; so when you are feeling sad or lonely or intimidated or guilty the only way you have learned to deal with those stressful emotions is through getting angry.
 

Help for Anger

 
Anger is something that can be managed and resolved. You can learn emotional skills to deal with powerful emotions. You can let go of past resentments and any residual anger. You can learn to communicate more effectively and you can learn to channel anger in a constructive way.
 

If your life and relationships are suffering due to anger outbursts it’s a good idea to get some help. Hypnotherapy, mindfulness practices, processing past memories, EFT have all been shown to be beneficial when it comes to handling anger.