Alternative Strategies to Reduce Anger and Promote Self-Regulation

1. Alternative Strategies to
Promote Self-Regulation
Presented by: Paula Freeman, CSC

2. Self-Regulation
• Self-regulation makes it possible for us to know and manage our emotions,
recognize emotions in others, and make use of these abilities in relationships.
With adequate self regulation, we are able to control immediate responses to
stimuli in order to make behavioral choices (Tollison, Synatschk, & Logan,
2011).
• The capacity to self-regulate is the foundation upon which a functional sense
of self develops (Ogden, Minton, & Pain, 2006).

3. Understanding Anger: A Secondary Emotion

4. Biology of Anger
• Over production of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and catecholamine deregulate
blood sugar levels and create an explosion of protective energy
• Inability to release enough serotonin
• Possible difference in the physiology of the amygdala limiting the ability to
self-soothe
• Can you remember a time when you felt a strong anger sensation? Even
remembering the event might produce some of the anger chemicals. Where
do you feel them in the body? What was the emotion behind the anger?

5. What’s for Breakfast……
• Cortical distractor
• Water
• Do not initiate discussion around the desire to modify behavior or teach a
lesson.
• Somatic exercise to reduce biological reaction to anger.

6. Waterfall
Breathe deeply
Repeat three times
Raise arms above head
Bend at the waist
Trace the image of the water with your fingers as it falls to the floor
Breathe deeply
Repeat five deep breaths
Allow hands to float to waist
Rise slowly stopping at the waist level taking a deep breath and then moving up one vertebra at a time

7. Removing Stress Chemicals from the Body and
Grounding Practices: Calm Creates Calm
• Grounding is the technique and practice of purposely connecting to the ground beneath us
and to our somatic experience in the moment. It is the active practice of creating a physical
and emotional inner experience of calm connection to our own body and our surroundings.
Grounding facilitates interactive affect regulation (Tollison, Synatschk, & Logan, 2011).
• Before each therapeutic session, a counselor might ground herself to facilitate interaction
with the client. To begin each session, a counselor might use a grounding activity to help a
client experience a physical and emotional inner experience.
• Other activities are in the handouts and include: Seaweed, Thai Chi, and Still Quite Place
• Discuss with a partner or group how you felt before and after the waterfall activity?

8. Forgiveness
• After we achieve a state of self-regulation. (Perhaps waiting until a time when
the client is in a regulated state)
• Help the client focus on forgiveness. This is not condoning the actions of
others. It is releasing the desire to seek revenge, and allowing reality to be
observed. We do not have to agree with something to observe it.
• It is understanding we have some degree of control over our reaction to the
behavior of others. Reducing fear and powerlessness helps reduce the
secondary anger reaction.

9. Mindfulness Exercise
• Breathe deeply (repeat)
• Imagine the face of a person with whom you feel
safe, calm, and protected
• Send thoughts of contentment to this person
• Allow this face to fade and be replaced by
the face of an acquaintance you might know
• Send thoughts of contentment to this person
• Allow this face to fade and replace with someone
with whom you feel deregulated.
• Send thoughts of contentment and forgiveness to this person
• Return to the face of your safe person and then replace this face with your
own face. Breathe.

10. Skills Topics
• Self-awareness- identifying one’s own thoughts, feelings, strengths, and how they influence
choices and actions
• Social awareness- understanding the thoughts and feelings of others, developing empathy, and
being able to take the perspective of others
• Self-management- handling emotions, using emotions to facilitate interactions, and dealing with
obstacles in a productive way.
• Responsible decision making- being able to consider the short and long term consequences of
actions
• Relationship skills- the ability to maintain healthy and rewarding connections with individuals and
groups