The Other Side of Anger Naomi Holdt Educational Psychologist and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Other Side of Anger Naomi Holdt Educational Psychologist and Speaker

Aim of this talk

Our angry world

. Understanding Anger

Understanding First

What is ANGER?

• An emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong. (American Psychological Association) • Emotional response indicating a person has experienced a perceived injustice • Emotional response produced as a result of the emotional space we are in and our thinking • Normal • Common • NOT: • An action • Something we outgrow • Automatic reflex • Caused by others

What’s happening in the brain?

What’s happening in the body?

Genetics?

MAOA and CDH13

Some studies: • Child Abuse • Intoxicants • High levels of Testosterone (fetal and young child)

Epigenetics

. Why are children so angry?

The impact of our society • Aggression and violence everywhere • Role models reinforce • Normalizes anger responses • Desensitizes children to the horror of violence and increased tolerance develops • Children take on a fearful view of the world

The impact of screens • 6-7 hours per day (8-18 years) • Gaming impact (FFF activated) • Violent games e.g. Grand Theft Auto • Todays children are exposed to close up violence- perp stabbed, shot multiple times • One study showed 40% violence committed by ‘good guys’ - Interpretation- ‘good guys’ are violent • For every hour TV a 4 year old watches daily, risk becoming a bully increases between age 6-11 by 6-9%. • Girls aged 6-10, watching programmes with aggressive protagonists, are more likely to turn into angry adults

. Anger from all sides

The downside of anger

Misunderstood Emotion

The upside of Anger “Anger is a powerful and healthy force in your life. You NEED to feel it” Ryan Martin

The upside of anger

Ryan Martin- Anger researcher

Triggers • Not an event • Emotional space we are in • THAT is role of therapist, educator, parent- to understand the emotional space the child is in in order to help them change it • When emotions are not reflected and understood= (onion)- leads to anger • In situation- child may not have the skills to accomplish task- so feels insecure. Incompetency is highlighted- Consider primary emotion?

What happens to unprocessed anger?

Long term health impact (high cortisol levels)

The wisdom of Shrek

The Onion Emotion

Further considerations • Depression • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder • ADHD • Oppositional Defiance Disorder • Sensory Integration Disorders • Autism • Early-onset Bipolar Mood Disorder • Intermittent Explosive Disorder • Temporal and Frontal Lobe Epilepsy • Reactive Attachment Disorder • Learning Disorders • Grief • Trauma • Brain damage injury

Helping the Family .

Thriving Anger: The perfect recipe

Most essential tool for helping the family

Index patient?

Teaching & Talking about Emotions

Extending Emotional Vocabulary

. Helping the angry child

Setting free the forbidden ‘A’ word

Identifying the angry child

When is anger a problem? • Too frequent • Too intense • Lasts too long • Masks other emotions • Disturbs family/ peer relationships • Hurts people • Harm to animals • Self harm • Explosive outbursts

Assessing Anger • Drawings and play- consistent theme • Behaviour towards others • Repeated aggressive actions/outbursts • Meltdowns/ tantrums beyond developmental age (7/8 years old) • Severity impacts on family • Impact on academic/ classroom functioning • Isolation from peers?

Processing Emotions

Getting to the root- Peeling the layers Our response to charged emotions should be to assess primary emotion

Assess the primary emotion first

The porcupine effect

Role of Educator .

Role of Educator • Recognise • Normalise • Support parents • Role model • Be proactive • Respond unemotionally • Teach problem solving skills • Notice the positive • Never meet anger with anger • Refer for therapeutic assistance if necessary

Role of the Therapist .

NOT begin with change • Begin with understanding

Mindfulness practices

CBT: Changing the soil

Problem solving

Empathy

Looking through the glasses

Retrain the brain

Gratitude

Loving through the quills Breaking the cycle of rejection