Individual Counseling

Occasional irritation or frustration – even anger over a relationship issue from time to time – is probably normal, but how do you know whether what you are experiencing anger issues? Anger issues can be expressed in three ways: Outwardly: expressions of anger directed toward others. Examples of outward anger include yelling, smashing objects, or slamming doors. Inwardly: expressions of anger usually directed toward oneself. Examples include berating yourself and self-harm. Indirectly: passive expressions of anger. Examples of indirect expressions include sulking, sarcasm, or being silent to show your anger. Anger issues may be very tough to distinguish from just generally feeling angry. While it may be normal, anger, like any other emotion, may be sinful or righteous, depending on what has motivated it, its appropriateness to the situation, or its expression (to give a few examples). Also, it is well to remember that no emotion, no matter how good, is ever unstained by our sin. However, when anger begins to feel like it’s your primary characteristic or disrupts work or relationships, this may signal anger issues. To know if you are dealing with something more than intermittent frustration or anger, it’s important to look at four things: how frequently you get angry, what causes your anger, how you respond to anger, and how anger impacts your thought processes. How frequently do you get angry? There is no fixed rule on the number of times you’re allowed to be angry, but understanding how anger can be provoked is important. Knowing what anger looks like may reveal that you’re angrier more often than you thought. You might be angry more often than you realize if you are frequently irritable, frustrated, or internally restless. The other way to know if you are angry more often than not is to look at [...]