Summary

• Anger and anxiety are normal emotions that help people survive.

• Answers can often be found by asking: “What happened to this person that would trigger this reaction?”

• Situations that trigger anger and anxiety often involve a sense of being unsafe, a loss of something, emotions that are unable to be handled effectively, and an alteration of how that person envisions the future.

• Problems arise when anger and anxiety are misinterpreted or the person does not have the skills to deal with the problem

• Anger is not a simple emotion, it often covers up shame, embarrassment, guilt and/or anxiety.

• By helping people identify the roots of their anger and more effective strategies, they can be empowered to reduce the frequency and intensity of these emotions and more effectively cope when they do arise.