Getting To Grips With Your Anger:
Excercises To Do Yourself.
Exercise 1: Knowing What Makes You Angry
STAGE 1: All the things that I get angry about.
On a piece of paper, scribble down as many things you can think of that you react to with anger - your 'anger triggers' or 'hotspots'.
STAGE 2 : Sorting out your anger triggers.
This can be done in several ways
By Importance
Look at your anger triggers and work out which one you are get angriest about. This is No.1- then carry on until you have numbered your top 10
By type:
Choose a different colour for each type of trigger - you can choose your own classification - e.g. all the things to do with the crash; all the things to do with your treatment; economic situation etc.
By what you can do something about:
Draw a big box like this:
Look through your anger triggers and place them in one of the four boxes below. All the things that are important to you go in one of the top boxes on the left if you can do something about it, on the right if there is absolutely nothing you can do. Do the same for the things that are not important to you. When you have finished, what strikes you about your 'anger map'?
Now, choose one item from each box and formulate it in a sentence. "I react angrily as soon as hear a train"
Then, write the following question and your answers:
What is the worst outcome of this worry?
Continue posing and answering the question until you feel that you have exhausted your worries on this one issue
Now, look back at your list and ask yourself: "Is there anything I can do to cope with any of these worries?" If you can't think of anything, collect ideas by asking others what they might do in a similar situation.