anger management

Let’s be honest: it’s hard to rebuild trust after it’s been shattered. Perhaps an argument with your spouse or significant other got out of hand and became physical. Maybe this is the first time it ever happened—and maybe it resulted in your being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Whether or not you go to jail—and indeed whether or not you’re even charged with a crime—there is now a rift within your family. It can be difficult to know how to move forward.

Your relationship has likely changed forever, and the healing process will take time. And it’s not just about a broken relationship with your spouse or partner—domestic violence wounds everyone in the family who is connected to it, in one way or another. What steps can you take to begin repairing the relationship—and even more importantly, what can you do to prevent another domestic violence altercation from erupting in the future?

We’ll discuss some specific tips below, but for starters, know that the healing process for your relationship begins with a simple two-fold strategy:

For many people who find themselves facing domestic violence charges, the problem doesn’t usually begin with the act of violence itself. For most, that catalyst is anger. The violence occurs as an end result of the person’s inability to control the angry emotions welling up inside.

If you’re convicted of a domestic violence charge in California, and sentenced to probation instead of jail, chances are you’ll also be required to attend a “batterer’s class” or some sort of anger management counseling as part of your sentence. But are anger management programs truly effective, and can they help reduce the chances of a repeat offense?

As with most issues, the answer to this question isn’t a clear “yes, it works” or “no, it doesn’t.” The effectiveness of any anger management course depends as much on the cooperation of the participant as it does the nature of the course itself. Modern psychology has recommended a variety of approaches to anger management; some have proven more fruitful than others, and experts now feel some traditional approaches have actually backfired.

Articles Tagged with anger management

Mending Relationships after a Domestic Violence Altercation

Does Anger Management Work? A Look at the Science Behind It