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Anger Management

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Anger Management

6 Critical Steps to a Calmer Life

New Page Books,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Control angry, self-destructive behavior by reprogramming your assumptions and perceptions.

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Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Peter Favaro provides numerous tools to help those who want to get a handle on their emotions, particularly anger, and to improve their relationships with others. He is always careful to define his key terms and reinforce essential principles, and he provides example after example of difficult situations and how to deal with them. The book is well organized and full of techniques that will help you overcome frustration. Favaro’s suggestions are all useful. However, the book does not explore the risks involved in some of the techniques. While Favaro is careful to explain that not all techniques work for everyone, he downplays the possibility of negative reactions to conscientious, careful communication in many work-focused organizations, and underestimates the power of context and workplace culture. Otherwise, this is familiar but useful conflict resolution material. getAbstract recommends this book to self-help beginners who want to improve their conflict resolution skills by changing their behavior.

Summary

The Anger Epidemic

Does the world seem to be getting more anxious and angry? It’s not just in your head. Anger is a growing problem. The world is in the midst of an "anger epidemic." From school shootings in the U.S. to political terrorism, everyone is threatened by violent, explosive episodes when people act from anger rather than reason or compassion. Fortunately, you don’t have to remain a passive victim in the face of the anger epidemic. You can act to change it.

Anger is not automatically "toxic." When things go wrong or you feel threatened, a surge of anger is perfectly normal. However, for some people, anger becomes chronic. Think of yourself as a jar that can hold only a finite amount of frustration. If too many frustrating things happen, or if the frustration doesn’t get a chance to evaporate, the jar overflows.

Sometimes your anger jar is full because of your recent experiences: you have a bad day at work, then an argument with your family at the dinner table. However, sometimes the jar is full because of your assumptions about the world and other people. If you expect the worst, the worst will happen. These "anger-maintaining perceptions," or "AMPs...

About the Author

Peter Favaro is a clinical psychologist who teaches anger management and conflict resolution classes, and lectures regularly on the psychology of crime.

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