Women experience anger, but it tends to show up differently than men. When women get angry, they rarely display those emotions overtly or aggressively. Instead, those who have not yet learned anger management for women typically display their anger as resentment, depression, broken relationships, or passive-aggressive behavior.
Are you struggling to manage your anger? Is your anger having a negative impact on your life? If so, help is available. We’ll help you learn how to own your anger and express it in healthy ways. At the same time, we’ll help you see that anger isn’t something to be ashamed of or guilty about in the first place. Partner with us to grow, heal, and be the best possible version of yourself.
Is anger getting in the way of your success and happiness? Contact NYC Therapeutic for help with anger management for women.
Recognize and Own Your Anger
Since many women have been conditioned to hide their anger, you might not even recognize that you are angry. Sometimes, women only realize they have been angry after they are out of the situation. However, in order to channel your anger appropriately, you need to be able to first recognize and be aware that you are feelings angry. Anger management for women addresses this issue in a way that’s personalized to you.
Signs of Women’s Anger
Some signs that you are angry might include:
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Substance use
- Over-spending
- Overeating
- Crying
- Resentment
- Relationship problems
- Passive-aggressive behavior
Owning your anger means recognizing it and taking responsibility for it. If that sounds difficult, don’t worry. With help, you can recognize and own your anger so that it doesn’t interfere with your life.
Understand Your Anger Process
One of the strategies you can use for anger management for women is to learn more about your unique anger processes. Tuning in and bringing attention to your emotions can help you start to become aware of your patterns. This knowledge helps you make better choices at each stage of the process. Here are four stages in the anger process.
Triggers
The things that trigger your anger are unique to you. What might make you feel angry might not matter to someone else at all, and vice versa. However, triggers typically fall into certain categories.
- Threatening behavior, including all kinds of threats, from physical threats to a threat of job loss
- Attacks, whether someone is attacking you verbally or physically
- Being invalidated by others
- Feeling you’re treated unfairly
- Being treated with disrespect
- Feeling frustrated and powerless
- Feeling stressed
Your triggers depend both on what happens and your interpretation of the incident. What triggers you as an individual might be related to your childhood, other past experiences, or your current work or family situations. Remember, the more you know about your triggers, the easier it will to become aware that you are angry and implement strategies to manage your anger.
Escalation
Triggers happen to everyone at one time or another. However, with anger management for women, you can learn how to address the anger before it escalates. During escalation, the anger-related feelings you are experiencing get stronger. So, it’s best to express your anger in healthy ways before it gets too overwhelming.
Explosion
If you reach the point of explosion, you have an angry outburst. This can happen very quickly for some women, or it could even build up over a number of years before you finally express it. When you get to this step in an unhealthy anger process, it can be damaging to personal or professional relationships.
Post-Explosion
After you’ve gone past the explosion, you still have to deal with the consequences. For some women, this might mean trying to repair a relationship. It could involve making some kind of restitution. Uncontrolled anger can threaten or harm many aspects of your life. But with anger management for women, you learn to express your anger in helpful ways before you even escalate it.
Healthy Ways to Manage Your Anger
Anger management for women does not teach you to hide or stuff down your anger. Instead, you learn how to express your anger or channel it for more positive outcomes. Then, how can you deal with your anger in the meantime? Here are some tips and strategies to help you manage your anger now.
- Know yourself. By recognizing who you are, what matters to you, and how you express anger and other emotions, you have the first tools for managing your anger.
- Be sure your basic needs are met. When your needs aren’t met, anger might come quickly. If you’re hungry, tired, or thirsty, your anger might flare up instantly. Sometimes all you need is a bottle of water to feel calmer. Additionally, there may be some bigger needs that aren’t being met. Are you being heard? Are you being considered? Tune into your needs.
- Don’t speak too soon. When you become angry, don’t speak until you can think about what you want to say. Also, give others the opportunity to do the same.
- Express your concerns after you’re calm. The goal is not to silence yourself but to approach the situation more calmly and logically. Your input is valuable, and it will make the biggest difference if you deliver it peacefully.
- Consider your boundaries. By setting and visualizing your healthy boundaries, you can help create emotional distance without disengaging from the object of your anger.
- Get some exercise. Moving your body can help you diminish angry feelings. You can work out at the gym, take a dance class, or even redecorate your home. Walking outdoors is also a great idea because being in nature has been proven as a calming technique that can even reduce depression and anxiety.
- Understand what you can control and what you can’t. By accepting that you can’t control everything, you set yourself up to let go of your anger. In addition, when you know what you can control, you can move forward to improve that part of the situation.
- Be a problem-solver. Once you are in a better state of mind to deal with the anger-provoking situation, think of ways you can solve the problems it contains. When you channel the energy of anger into solving problems, you can reduce your anger as you focus on improvement.
- Imagine a traffic light. This strategy has proven helpful for anger management for women and men. Picture a traffic light where green is calmness, yellow means to slow down because you’re getting frustrated or angry, and red means you need to stop right now before you have an angry outburst.
- Learn how to de-stress. When you can manage your stress, it’s easier to manage your anger.
Not sure how to minimize stress in your life? Learn more by reading our blog, Why Am I Stressed All the Time? A Guide to De-Stressing.
Empowering You Through Anger Management for Women
In our city, women are often under tremendous pressure to perform perfectly at all times. The fast-paced lifestyle in NYC can lead many women to have anger issues.
When mismanaged anger threatens your well-being, you can benefit from seeking professional help. At NYC Therapeutic Wellness, our anger management for women is designed to empower you, not keep you silent. We help you recognize your strengths and authentic self to manage your anger effectively and in the most positive ways.
Our compassionate counselors work with you to resolve your anger issues by learning to respect your authentic self. We help women, as well as men, learn how to manage anger productively. Whether you are struggling with anger issues, depression, anxiety, or relationship problems, we provide a safe environment and caring professionals to help and empower you. When you partner with us, we work together to address your anger in the healthiest ways.
Is anger becoming a problem for you in your relationships, your work, or your personal time? Contact our caring counselors at NYC Therapeutic Wellness for anger management for women.