Product Description

The ever-escalating costs of anger are well documented: sabotaging careers, alienating friends and family, triggering illness, causing bodily harm. Written by two well-regarded experts in the field, The Anger Control Workbook introduces a new and radically simplified approach to anger control. Step-by-step exercises will aid readers in identifying, understanding, responding to, and ultimately coping with their hostile feelings. "Half the anger battle can be won by simply learning to relax the physical tension that develops in provocative situations. It's a proven fact that if you can relax your body, and keep it relaxed, it's almost impossible to get angry. Combating stress using the skills you're about to learn can help you calm down, think clearly, and handle any situation in an effective, positive way." - from the book

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12098 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Matthew McKay, Ph.D., is Clinical Director of Haight-Ashbury Psychological Services and in private practice in San Francisco. Dr. McKay is co-author of several popular books, including The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, Self-Esteem, Thoughts & Feelings, The Daily Relaxer, When Anger Hurts and Couple Skills.

Peter Rogers, Ph.D., is the Administrative Director of the Haight-Ashbury Psychological Services in San Francisco and the past Director of the Alchohol and Drug Treatment Program at Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City, Califronia. Dr. Rogers is coauthor of The Divorce Book and When Anger Hurts, and the author of book chapters and articles on alchohol and drug abuse.

Customer Reviews

Outstanding
Great tool. The principal of my son's school recommended I get this book. That was right after he informed me that my son's mother had restricted my access to all his school records and all after school events until the judge makes a decision. I didn't think anything would help. But, I don't drink so I thought I would give it a try. It really has helped. Get it, use it. It will help.

Therapist review.
I found this workbook especially helpful for clients I see regarding anger managment. It gives them specific worksheets I can assign as homework outside the therapy office.

Complete perfection in self-help book writing that actually WORKS
I love using self-help books as therapy: they are reasonably cheap and they mobilize you sometimes even better than a therapist - as you know you can't become passive or rely on someone else for your progress.

Over the years, I've seen quite a few good self-help books, and God knows, I've been duped by a few unhelpful ones in glossy covers. It always puzzles me to see how some of these real duds can manage to make it to the best seller's lists and stay there. I know it's human to seek simplistic answers, only to find out, that the solution to a long-term problem is never as easy and quick as the book promises.

A while back, I was lucky to get a hold of a book called The Authoritative Guide to Self-Help Books. The book is a result of a well-respected study that rates hundreds of self-help books/films/websites for various disorders such as depression, anger, obesity, anxiety, low self-esteem and so on. In the anger category, the only book found to be highly effective (5 stars) was the book I am currently reviewing.

This is the most concise book I've seen on this complex subject about 150 pages), but it's the essence of all I needed.

In my opinion, a self help book is good if:

1. It's simple, clear and free of psychobabble with a minimum of stories of non-existant humans;

2. It doesn't dwell exessively on the past no matter how sad, but rather enourages action to change;

3. The issues feel relevant and you see the application to your unique situation immediately;

4. It is scientifically proven to work. It does not promise you easy and quick results but realistic and common-sense;


The Anger Control Workbook is such self-help book.

It starts by teaching you how to relax on demand. Try to be angry when you are completely relaxed-it's impossible.

Relaxation is a skill that you perfect with 20-minute daily practice. You use this skill to temporarily calm yourself and buy time so that you can plead and reason with yourself not to act impulsively and cause an unrepairable damage.

Then, the book addresses your thought and belief system and helps to correct some of the distortions that are surely lurking there. Automatic and unnoticed distortions provide fertile ground for anger. They help sustain and justify its philosophical existance by painting all sort of seemingly inevitable catastrophes. Authors say, testing and correcting your silent dialog is the most important step in gaining control in any mood change, a.k.a. cognitive therapy.

Finally, the book teaches you how to inoculate yourself against various situations that make you angry by preventing any outbursts in the future. You compile the description of the situations that tick you off and deal with them on your own terms-at home while you are totally relaxed and safe by imagining yourself in the hot situation, and desensitizing yourself, until you get in control.

Often times, I actually found myself memorizing some of the books sentences, and reciting them to myself like mantra. For example, when getting pissed at people whom I deem as incompetent, I'd quell my anger by saying to myself "PEOPLE ARE DOING THEIR BEST". This sentence, as simple as corny as it might sound, would honestly humble myself and make me more human, calming a rising storm inside. It just had that click with me.

In the end, the obvious is worth repeating: this book or any self-help book works only if you use it! Deliberately seeking out situations that make you angry - not avoiding them - and acting in a new, non-agressive fashion, is key. Good luck!