Anger management is a term that many people don't clearly understand. This term was actually coined back in the early 1970's by university professor Dr. Raymond Novaco. Since this time, the phrase anger management has taken on a life of it's own.
Anger management is best defined as a class. It is a class that teaches participants very specific skills to better manage and control their anger or aggression. Unlike counseling or traditional psychotherapy, where the counselor is attempting to bring unconscious thought to consciousness, anger management teaches skills in the "here and now". These skills are aimed at helping the participants change their thinking and behavior.
Do do this, the participants is usually exposed to several evidence-based anger management techniques such as learning assertive communication skills, challenging negative automatic thoughts, learning skills in cognitive restructuring, dispelling cognitive distortions, or improving skills in empathy or emotional awareness.
These techniques are commonly taught in an
anger management class or
online anger management class
Anger management is a commonly used intervention that is often cateragized as a "short term" intervention. This is mostly due to the fact that it is taught as a class. Once specific lessons have been discussed the anger management counseling comes to a close. While many participants continue beyond a traditional length class (about 10 sessions), this is usually what it takes to learn important techniques to help better manage and control ones anger..