Anger in the Workplace:
Emotional Intelligence, A Critical Factor in Anger Management Intervention

The Anderson and Anderson model of anger management intervention is one of the first curriculums to incorporate emotional intelligence as a key component of the skills taught in its anger management classes as well as executive coaching. The other components of this model include stress management, communication and anger management. All of these four key concepts are woven throughout the curricula as well as the group exercises, videos and CDs used to teach participants not only how to manage anger but also how to manage stress, improve communication and enhance emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to create positive incomes in relationship to others and ourselves. It is the practice of being aware, understanding, appropriately expressing and handling emotional states in ourselves and others. Emotional intelligence is an important skill to acquire because of its usefulness in leadership, sales, marriage and interpersonal relationships at work, school and families. It is a skill which can be developed and/or enhanced at any point in our lives.

Before being admitted into any of our programs, a computer scored Anger Management Map is administered. This assessment component determines the client's level of functioning in the following areas, anger management, stress management, emotional intelligence and communications. Skills in these four areas are the topics taught in the Anderson & Anderson model of intervention programs.

While an individual may initially enroll in an anger management class as a referral from the court, Human Resource Manager, Employee Assistance Program or spouse, once in the class, he or she will quickly recognizes the value of using these skills in all other aspects of his or her daily functioning. Emotional intelligence is by far the most popular of the four modules mentioned above. It is closely related to empathy, sensitivity to others, compassion and self awareness. It is what distinguishes persons who make you feel comfortable, optimistic, laugh and feel good about yourself from those who you avoid because their negativism is contagious and tends to cause you to feel gloom and discomfort.

Currently, in the United States , Canada , England and Bermuda, the largest number of referrals to anger management programs using the Anderson & Anderson model are from businesses, and governmental agencies, including Hospitals. These organizations tend to be most concerned about the bottom line, productivity, profit and good morale. Understanding the powerful role of emotions in the workplace sets the best leaders apart from the rest not just in tangibles such as better results and the retention of talent, but also in the all-important intangibles, such as higher morale, motivation, and commitment.

Some case examples
Fifteen percent of participants in our anger management classes are self referred. Several months ago a young father joined one of our Saturday accelerated classes because he was concerned over his growing impatience and negative response to his infant son. During his first session, he quickly realized that this “impatience” was also occurring at his business where he was responsible for managing fifty employees. He also acknowledged being frequently abrasive in his style of communicating with his wife. Over a ten session period, he was able to see a change in his relationship with others as well as his self-esteem as he began making changes in his sensitivity to others and using assertive communication rather than passive aggressive or aggressive communication.

In another example, an executive of a major Motion Picture Company was ordered to attend an executive coaching/anger management class as a result of verbal abuse exhibited in a meeting directed to one of his senior staff. Initially, this executive denied the need for help and protested his referral to an anger management program. During his initial assessment interview, the focus was on his style of communication, (aggressive) level of stress, (high) emotional intelligence (low) and finally his skills in managing anger which was poor. It was determined in the assessment session that he may benefit from developing skills in emotional intelligence, stress management, communication and finally anger management. During his ten week individual coaching sessions, he was promoted at his company and received a hefty raise. After one year, he is now an advocate in his company for emotional intelligence for all managers and supervisors.

Forty percent of our referrals come from business and industry. Self-referrals are the third largest source of referrals to our classes. Many of our new referrals come from participants who have successfully completed either executive coaching or anger management classes.

In our third example, a man decided to take his toddler son for a ride on his Harley Davidson Motorcycle. A neighbor reported the incident to the police and he was subsequently arrested and charged with child endangerment and ordered to attend a one year anger management class with a focus of emotional intelligence. Not only did he express appreciation for the Judge who sentenced him, he also recommended that his local public Adult Education High School offer anger management and emotional intelligence to the community as a public service. 30% of anger management referrals come from the criminal justice system which includes the courts, probation and parole.

Just as laughter offers a ready barometer of emotional intelligence at work, so rampant anger, fear, apathy, or even sullen silence signals the opposite. In a survey of more that a thousand U.S. workers, 42 per cent reported incidences of yelling and other kinds of verbal abuse in their workplaces, and almost 30 percent admitted to having yelled at a co-worker themselves. Such disturbing encounters wreak havoc emotionally, as demonstrated in studies in which physiological response were monitored during arguments. Such attacks which send the painful emotional messages of disgust or contempt emotionally hijack the person targeted, particularly when the attack is a spouse or boss, whose opinions carry mush weight.

Emotional intelligence is a relatively new concept which holds considerable promise in teaching us the skills to relate to each other which leads to positive outcomes in many areas of human interaction. Currently it is the newest rage in Human Resource and Organizational Development consultation and training.

George Anderson

Anger Training Helps Revive Happiness

Keywords: anger workshop, online anger classes, online anger, anger training

"Angry people." "People who are angry." Is there a difference?

For most of us, "angry people" means people those whose anger is what characterizes them. "People who are angry" generally means those who are experiencing or expressing anger at a certain moment.

There is a world of difference between the two. Angry people, the ones whose anger defines them, may think they are justified in expressing their anger often, but surely they are not happy people. That's because you can't be angry and happy at the same time. Who smiles warmly when they are screaming at someone, or when they are throwing things in the middle of a temper tantrum? If anger had no other negative effects, robbing people of their happiness would be reason enough to consider if toxic.

Anger, especially the kind that is uncontrolled, is a harmful and dangerous emotion that can lead to adverse effects on people's family relationships, social and professional lives, and physical well-being. But, when "angry people" realize they have a problem that they cannot handle on their own, that's the first step towards a return to a happier life. The next step is to take part in anger workshops and anger training where they can learn to practice psychological exercises and other activities to help them manage their anger. Anger workshops and anger training offer various amounts of class time, depending on what the participant chooses.

Another choice for anger training is fast-becoming very popular. Online anger classes are a great help to people whose work and personal schedules, life circumstances and learning preferences indicate that online classes would meet their needs. Online anger classes  offer the same course content as traditional classes, but with a lot more flexibility in when and where you can work through the course. The online anger classes are available any time of the day or night, and you can access them anywhere you have a computer with access to the Internet.

Online anger classes teach stress management, anger management, and related therapies and exercises help you begin to re-take control of your emotional life. You can also start to feel what it's like to begin to happy again. Another benefit is to take steps towards recovering the motivation you may have lost to work, and the concentration required to do the work.

Online anger classes can be just the ticket for people with anger control problems. We all need some happiness to help us overcome the negative emotions that can lead to anger. Punch your ticket for more happiness by enrolling in an online anger class today.

Almost every day it seems that TV and newspapers (remember them?) feature domestic and child abuse, actions that police would label "crimes against persons," and even killings, whether in this country or overseas.  Look behind the video images and the headlines and you're likely to find compounded stress and uncontrolled anger lurking in the details.

Stress is so much a part of our lives that we have given up on eliminating it, but that doesn't mean we should forego managing it. Actually since stress shows no signs of going away, it's even more important that we learn ways to cope with its effects, including both emotional and physical health problems. On top of that, it's a very short step from compounded stress to uncontrolled anger. Those who don't learn to manage stress often end up needing to learn how to rein in their anger. This is where well-designed anger courses come in.

Anger courses are being created, marketed and taught by many different kinds of organizations. Most of these anger courses educate people about the causes of anger and ways to control it. The person who is struggling with a short temper, disconcerting outbursts, psychological and emotional abuse, or even physical threats and attacks needs anger courses without a doubt. Ironically, it is just such a person who frequently fails to recognize the fact that he/she needs help in managing anger. This so-called denial mechanism gets in the way of facing facts and of accepting the advice of family and friends. Deep down, however, what's holding them back is their ego. They will not, or cannot, see themselves as someone whose problem is serious enough to require who needs outside help in anger management. In this kind of situation, friends and family need patience and persistence to keep trying to get their message across.

For people who dig in their heels about attending a traditional class, there is an option that has two pluses in its favor. An online anger management class offers the same good-quality information as a traditional face-to-face class, and the anonymity of being online. Of course the instructor knows who the participants are, but the participants don't need to know the identities of each other. This can be important when probing into what kinds of things cause outbursts of anger. The term for them is triggers. Different people have different triggers, and in an online anger management class participants are taught how to identify their own individual triggers. They learn that either they must learn come up with alternatives other than anger outbursts in response to their triggers. The online anger management classes also teach participants to see anger as a warning sign, not as something that causes them over-react.

It's important to note that on anger management classes do not each people to suppress their feelings and emotions, but teach techniques on how to channel  them into more positive and constructive outlets.

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