1st Edition

Anger, Rage and Relationship An Empathic Approach to Anger Management

By Sue Parker Hall Copyright 2009
    232 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    232 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Anger, Rage and Relationship presents a radically new way to understand and work with anger and rage issues. Taking a relational approach to anger and rage, the book presents a positive view of human nature, supported by recent research findings and illustrated with case studies, with individuals trusted to be essentially pro-social.

    Rather than promoting strategies and techniques for eradicating anger, Sue Parker Hall, puts forward an approach which seeks to not only work with, but to differentiate between, anger and rage. Anger and rage are constructed as entirely different phenomena, originating at different developmental stages, having different functions and relational needs and requiring different aspects of relationship in the therapeutic process.

    Further areas of discussion include:

    • the positive aspects of anger
    • practitioner protection
    • the therapeutic implications of working with both anger and rage

    This book will provide invaluable reading for practitioners dealing with anger and rage in the therapeutic setting, as well as being of great interest to all counsellors and therapists in the related field.

    Introduction. The Individual in a Cultural Context. Why a Relational Approach? The Positive Aspects of Anger. How Anger is Distorted. The Therapeutic Implications for Working with Anger. Rage. The Therapeutic Implications for Working with Rage. Working with the Personality Adaptations. Working with the Borderline Personality. Working with the Narcissistic Personality. Couples. Practitioner Protection. Adult Rage. Conclusion. Bibliography.

    Biography

    Sue Parker Hall is a BACP accredited therapist and a supervisor in private practice, as well as a freelance trainer and an HE lecturer. She has developed her relational approach to anger and rage over the last decade and has presented her models to a wide range of helping professionals.

    Anger and rage are typically presented as problems by the person concerned and those in close relationship with them. This book offers a deeper and more positive analysis of anger and rage and their therapeutic potential. Essential reading for any anyone working with these primary feelings.' - Professor Tim Bond, University of Bristol.

    This is a powerful and timely work that enhances and extends the field of ‘anger management’ considerably. Reading it has given me many points of reflection and its richness and clarity have already helped me personally as well as professionally in the role of therapist. An inspiring read.’Jim Holloway, Independent Counsellor and Psychotherapist

    This is an important book. The author is to be commended for the breadth of its scope, as well as the depth and rigour of her analysis. The distinction she draws between anger and rage is both important and useful. She critiques existing models and approaches to working with anger and violence, and promotes a practice and a process of 'empathic anger management' which acknowledges the human organism's capacity for life and for processing our experience of life. The author also emphasises the importance of positive aspects of anger and 'adult rage', for example, in responding to social injustice. The book stands in the tradition of social psychology, and is clear about the social context of anger and rage which, the author argues, is endemic in British and American culture. I highly recommend it.’ - Keith Tudor, Psychotherapist, Director of Temenos, Sheffield, Honorary Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University