The document discusses anger and anxiety, identifying them as normal protective emotions. It explores their purpose and various effects. The document then provides objectives for helping clients identify and cope with anger and anxiety. It lists triggers and interventions including activities, exercises and emergency planning to manage strong emotions. The overall goal is to help clients understand the roots of their anger and anxiety and develop healthier strategies for dealing with stressful situations.

1. Journey to Recovery
Individual and Group Exercises
for Anger and Anxiety
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Direcor, AllCEUs Counselor Continuing Education
Podcast Host: Counselor Toolbox
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2. Objectives
 Identify the purpose of anger and anxiety
 Explore the effects of anger and anxiety
 Learn new activities to help clients learn to
identify and cope with anger and anxiety
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3. What is the Purpose
 Anger (Fight) and anxiety (Flee) protect you from
perceived threats by alerting you there MIGHT be a
problem
 Have you ever gotten angry or stressed out about
something just to find out that it wasn’t a big deal?
 Problems
 Based on prior learning experiences (but life changes)
 Unsafe situations
 Need for someone’s approval
 May be overgeneralized (all or nothing)
 Dogs barking
 Semis
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4. What is the Purpose
 Problems
 May be the result of transference
First love
Worst boss
 May simply be inaccurate (Fire alarm)
Car backfiring
Sean’s “paint”
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5. Effects
 How does anger or anxiety affect you:
 Physically: Sleep, pain, GI, immunity
 Emotionally: Regret, guilt, feeling helpless
 Socially: Fear vs. respect, negative impact on
relationships
 Occupationally: How you work with others, customer
service
 Spiritually: Your sense of connectedness to and impact
within the world, karma
 Environmentally: Break stuff, holes in walls, throw out
things impulsively
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6. Anger
 Since anger protects people and it often results
from application of prior knowledge or
experiences, then it can be supposed that people
with a lot of anger may have been exposed to
significant threats (traumas) in their past
 When you have a hammer, every problem looks
like a nail
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7. Anger and Anxiety Triggers
 The Alphabet List
 A= Attitude
 B= Bullying
 C= Creating drama
 D= Disagreeing
 E= Expecting too much
 F= Failing to keep a promise
 G= …
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8. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 Recognize anger and anxiety as a protective
response based on that persons experiences and
worldview.
 In what way did the current situation make the person
feel unsafe emotionally, interpersonally, physically or
remind them of a time he or she was unsafe?
 What emotions were triggered by this event and what
vulnerabilities or skill deficits contributed to the event?
 In what way did the situation trigger a sense or
memory of loss?
 How does the persons experience of the event alter
his/her future?
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9. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 The Alphabet List
 A= Acceptance
 B= Breathing
 C= Compassion, Challenge
 D= Dispute, Distract, Distress Tolerance
 E= Express myself
 F= Friend’s support
 G= Gratitude
 H= Higher Power/Hope
 I=…
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10. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 Identify 2 ways you could deal with the following symptoms, why they
might occur and why it is important to recovery
 Beach ball
 Jenga (card draw)
 Hat draw (same cards from Jenga)
 Symptoms
 Always feeling worried or stressed out
 Insomnia
 Fatigue
 Shortness of breath
 Muscle tension
 Headaches
 Irritability
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11. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 Anxiety/Anger graphic novel or skit
 Anxiety/Anger says…
 Evidence for and against
 Anger/anxiety thermometer
 Vulnerability predictor/prevention
 Handling criticism (role play)
 Worry stone or beads
 Worry box
 Positive writing
 Anger “Onion”
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12. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 Hidden Heart
 Fill a ziplock baggie with slips that tell about all of your hurts and
anger (This is your heart)
 Put the little bag inside of a paper lunch bag. Write on the outside
all the ways they present themselves to the world to hide what is
hidden on the inside.
 For kids: Anger Tornado
 RELAX Jar: Using beads with the letters R-E-L-A-X and other
small beads and sequins, fill a small jar with rice. Leave a little
air at the top so as it is rotated, the rice will slide around inside
revealing the letter beads and sequins. When the person gets
angry, she/he can turn the jar until finding all the letters that
spell relax. (more resources here https://www.creativecounseling101.com/anger-
management.html)
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13. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 Hidden Heart
 Fill a ziplock baggie with slips that tell about all of
your hurts and anger (This is your heart)
 Put the little bag inside of a paper lunch bag. Write on
the outside all the ways they present themselves to the
world to hide what is hidden on the inside.
 No Rewards
 What is going on with them
 Role play an incident that triggers anger with neck
cards
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14. Anger and Anxiety Interventions
 How can you use mindfulness to start to break
that habit?
 I am angry/anxious.
 What am I angry/anxious about?
 Is this actually a threat to me in the present moment?
 What is the best response in this situation to help me
achieve my goals
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15. Prevention
 Reduce stimulants
 Get enough rest
 Strive for work/life balance (add fun)
 Keep blood sugar stable
 Be aware of your triggers
 Environmental
 Situational/interpersonal
 Have a plan
 Get support
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16. Emergency Planning
 How can you get safe?
 Who can you call or text?
 Strategies can you use to help you get into your
wise mind?
 Why is it important to you to manage these
feelings?
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17. Summary
 Anger and anxiety are normal emotions that help people
survive.
 Answers can often be found by asking: “What happened to this
person that would trigger this reaction?”
 Situations that trigger anger and anxiety often involve a sense
of being unsafe, a loss of something, emotions that are unable
to be handled effectively, and an alteration of how that person
envisions the future.
 Problems arise when anger and anxiety are misinterpreted or
the person does not have the skills to deal with the problem
 Anger is not a simple emotion, it often covers up shame,
embarrassment, guilt and/or anxiety.
 By helping people identify the roots of their anger and more
effective strategies, they can be empowered to reduce the
frequency and intensity of these emotions and more effectively
cope when they do arise.
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