Anger management

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Raymond Novaco · 1975

What it is

"Anger management" is a family of programmes, not one therapy. It covers brief psychoeducational courses through to individual cognitive-behavioural treatment. Raymond Novaco is credited as originator. In 1975 he adapted Meichenbaum's stress inoculation training, then used for anxiety and pain, to…

Format

• Session count and format by version
• Taylor & Novaco 2005:. Session frequency was not verified.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Phase 3: Application training (application practice)
• Application training starts after skills have been modelled and rehearsed.
• Taylor & Novaco place readiness work in the preparatory phase, before skills training begins.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• sarcasm posing as humour. That is hostility, not coping.
• rehearsal that is flat and scripted. Raise the realism step by step.
• step 4 matters. Letting go is a legitimate, skilled choice, not defeat.
• plans that are too long to remember when aroused. Keep 2–3 tools per level.
• members who drift from the material into storytelling. Redirect to the skill.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.