Does Anger Management really work? That is a question asked by many with fairly limited information to support a non-subjective answer
. Yes, there are numerous studies on anger management where the research has been published in a scientific journals and reviewed by peers. Most of these studies have looked at populations that are incarcerated or who have committed violent crimes.
The concern with those reports is most people who take anger management programs are not violent offenders and lead non-criminal lives. There are other reports which can be found on the web but only offer research from their own clinical setting, which really isn't valid. This is mostly due to the fact that there is no way to prove the validity of it. The reality is that most out-patient anger management programs don't have the type of research results that would stand the test of what a major University's or the APA would require for substantial data.
That being said, much can be learned from what hundreds or even thousands of previous customers have reported. After providing thousands of pre and post assessments and interviewing countless students of anger management, the single predictor of success in anger management comes from client motivation. That is to say, does the client want to change? Those that are highly motivated to change see the best results. Those who are incredibly motivated to learn, tend to do better and hold on to the information being taught longer.
The second predictor of success in anger management is a class that focuses on proven methods. Anger classes should include skills in the following:
1. How to handle stress
2. Gaining skills in Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
3. Learning to respond instead of React
4. Changing ones internal dialog from negative to positive
5. Gaining Good Communication and Listening Skills
6. Expectation management
7. Forgive but don't forget
8. Learning to Retreat and take Time out
The type of the anger management class is less important then the content or delivery method. Clients report the same or similar results from attending live anger management classes as they do from individual coaching for anger control or online anger management classes. The delivery method is a personal choice. Some prefer the face to face programs, while other prefer to take courses at their own pace on their own time.
Anger management is not something that happens instantly. Gaining skills and sustaining change takes time. Those who are working on their own anger control need to adjust their own expectations that learning new skills and perfecting them is a journey.