Anger In The News

Why Teach Anger Management in Classes?

Our model of anger management focuses on teaching anger management skills in a classroom/educational setting rather than a therapy-model one-on-one counseling setting. We feel there are numerous advantages to this model, although admittedly some people also need traditional therapy or even medication for their anger management.

In the classroom setting, participants have a mind-set of listening and learning rather than just talking or sharing their experiences. Many people feel more comfortable in this type of setting, knowing that they don't have to share their lives with strangers, as would be required in either individual or group therapy. In addition, we have found that our "classroom" model draws many people to our program that would not  otherwise go to a therapist for help because of the stigma involved.

The classroom setting allows the trainer to focus on specific skill-building strategies rather than focusing on past causes of the anger problem. While knowing the origins of the anger can be helpful to some people, for many this knowledge or "insight" doesn't necessarily change their behavior.

The classroom setting also allows the trainer to assign "homework" tasks between sessions to encourage participants to practice the specific skills they have learned. In our model, we teach  from a structured workbook which also allows participants to have a reference with them at all times  should they be anger-challenged in their daily lives.

More information about the Century Anger Management Model by clicking here.

Is Anger Management Superior to Anger Therapy?

There are many models of anger management intervention, which include medication, traditional therapies. and cognitive, educational skill- building models such as that taught and used by Century Anger Management.  Which is better? This question cannot easily be answered because human beings are very complex. What works best for one person  doesn't necessarily work so well with another person. Therapy works for some who have more deep-rooted issues, but many say that just understanding the origin of one' s anger ( which is often the goal of therapy) doesn't help in controlling it.  Medication may be helpful for severe anger (such as with a condition called Intermittent Explosive Disorder) or for underlying depression, but most anger clients do not fall into these categories.

At Century Anger Management, we have developed a brief skill-building cognitive model of anger management which is usually delivered to classes of participants, although it can be used in individual coaching. Is it the only model that works? Of course not.  And, we certainly don' t believe we are the ONLY answer to anger problems in the world.  But, we do keep data on clients that participate in our programs, and the results are very encouraging.  At the end of the course, 96% of participants rate the program as at least "8" on a scale from 1-10. Many of our clients refer others into the program.

For those that need additional help, we often refer them to individual therapy and /or medication management as a supplement to the skills they have learned in anger management.   

Is there state regulation for anger management training?

A commonly asked question about our training model is, "is your model approved by the state?" The answer unfortunately is "no," because,a s far as we know, there is no state in the union that approves or disapproves ANY anger management training program. Because of this situation, consumers who wish to become anger management professionals need to look at the professional backgrounds and reputation of the authors of any training program they purchase. It is also important to look at the number and quality of continuing education associations that allow continuing education credits for the program, as this offers some measure of quality control.

At Century Anger Management, our programs are written and produced by a licensed psychologist and licensed clinical therapist with combined clinical experience of 42 years.  Both actively teach the CAM model of anger management personally to consumers in Southern California for a combined average of 200-300 sessions a month. Our companies also sell home-study and online programs reaching many more angry consumers across the country.

Our training model is accepted by many continuing education associations, as listed on our website as well as  approved by the California State Board of Corrections for the training of probation, parole and correctional officers .

We feel there should be state regulation of anger management providers and our company will support all efforts to make that happen. In the meantime, we do our best to provide the highest quality training possible to aspiring anger management professionals to ensure quality control and to protect consumers from under trained providers.

More....... 

Why Choose Century Anger Management for Training?

If you want to become certified to do anger management, what are your choices of training programs? Actually, there are numerous "models" of anger management that work well- despite the claims of some that there is "only one training model that works." 

There is one particular company that claims they are number 1, with no proof that their model is better than other models. They warn that if consumers are trained by anyone else, they are getting second best. This statement is pure "marketing" and not backed up with any objective data that we know of.

Actually, consumers should look around and pick a training model that best fits their particular clients. Following is a list of reasons why we believe the Century Anger Management Model should be strongly considered:

1. It was developed by two very experienced clinical therapists, both with a Ph.D. degree, and both licensed by the state of California to practice.  This is important because anger management involves an array of clinical skills, both in assessment and practice. The 40-hour training program they developed includes many modules based on their years of clinical experience. This ensures the best possible background for those doing anger management individually or in classes or groups.

2. Century Anger Management is very user-friendly. We will support you during your training and after you have been certified. We answer all emails and all phone calls. We value our providers and do everything we can to keep providers current in our model of anger management.  Our certification is valid for two years- with very inexpensive upgrades available after that.

3. We have now trained hundreds of providers in California and elsewhere. While we can't claim that we are the biggest training company yet, we are growing and we try harder. Our model is used by many large organizations such as the Salvation Army, numerous Probation Departments, military installations, and County Mental Health Systems.

4. We offer two ways you can become certified - through Live Training or through our new home-study program. This makes it flexible and convenient for both local people and people across the country who can benefit from our model without having to fly to California to be trained.

5. Unlike most other training organizations in anger management, we offer many free resources to providers and consumers alike, to help people with their anger issues. This includes free newsletters, podcasts, articles, and other resource materials.

More information at http://www.centuryangermanagement.com/Training/tabid/56/Default.aspx

Century Anger Management Training Back on The Road

In response to numerous requests around the state, Century Anger Management will offer a series of Level 1 trainings to certify providers from Northern California to the Mexican border in its new and extremely well-received 40-hour training model.

The first "Live" training will be in The Bay Area on October 4th and 5th. This will be followed by a two-day live training in the San Diego area on November 8th and 9th, 2007. Following "live training", providers achieve Level 2 ("Anger Management Professional") by later completing 24 hours of online training. 

The Century Anger Management Model of anger management training is based on the book "Anger Management for The Twenty-First Century" which teaches providers how to teach the acclaimed 8 tools of anger management which has found to be so effective with consumers.

More information on our training model, continuing education credits available and upcoming trainings can be found at:

http://www.centuryangermanagement.com/Training/tabid/56/Default.aspx

Why the Century Anger Management Model of Intervention?

Why choose the Century Anger Management model of intervention as your source of certification training in anger management?  That is a good question.  We are not the oldest training provider in the nation, and we certainly aren't the most well known, primarily due to the fact of being in existence for about 3 1/2 years.  As the founders of Century Anger Management we created this model because we felt that the current state of anger management certification should be expanded.  As with the treatment of any disorder, there are often numerous approaches to helping people.  Some approaches work better than others; however, we  have created a model that is helping people each and every day.  We also developed this model because we didn't want people trained by us to feel obligated to follow strict purchasing and marketing requirements of our products/brand  in order to be listed a  provider.

Anger Management has become a business, like any other industry.  Our primarily goal in developing our model and certification training through Century Anger Management was to professionally train anger management providers in a model that works and that helps consumers.  Our second motivation was to develop a business that made sense for everyone, us, the consumer, and our providers.  Making a buck is not our primary motivation, our primary motivation is produce as many professionally trained anger management providers as possible in the Century Anger Management model of intervention to help the general public.

Criticism?  The only criticism of our model comes from our competition, not from consumers, agencies, business or law enforcement.  So, any bad press about us is really just propaganda and is baseless in our opinion.  It's unfortunate because in the end, I believe we all want to serve the same purpose:  Help consumers who are seeking problems with anger and stress. 

Can more than one model of anger management co-exist?  Absolutely in our opinion.  While we also take the position that anger management is NOT psychotherapy, there are literally hundreds of psychotherapy models that work, depending on the problem. There are many models of anger management in existence, and upwards of about 6-8 training providers if you do an internet search for "anger management certification, anger management providers, anger management programs, anger management training". 

Does the best one mean the most popular one on the internet?  I guess, if you knew nothing about internet marketing.  Internet marketing is complex, but can be misleading to the consumer because internet popularity is not an objective criteria for "best", it just means most popular by criteria set by the search engines.  Try doing an internet search for "best ice cream".  The most popular website is http://www.bluebell.com/.  Personally, I like Ben and Jerry's, but I guess based on search engine popularity, bluebell is the winner....

We believe we have a quality training program that will help the consumer.  We have hundreds of testimonials to support this.  We have numerous approvals and many agencies, probation departments, governmental agencies, and private practicioners using our model every day. Our model, like may others is educational in nature, but based on many empirically validated cognitive-behavioral techniques.  It includes the following tools:

Tool One — Dealing with stress. This tool teaches skills in effective stress management strategies to help reduce physical, mental and emotional signs of stress.

Tool Two — Empathy Development. Teaches skills in emotional intelligence and empathy.  Empathy is the ability to feel what another person feels.  Empathy skills reduce anger responses.

Tool Three — Respond instead of React. Teaches ways to deal with situations using better judgement and impulse control.  Not reacting to situations can often be a valuable tool in dealing with difficult situations or people.

Tool Four — Change Self-Talk. Changing self-talk can help us become more positive as well as develop more positive outcomes in our lives.  Proven techniques and methods explored

Tool Five — Assertive Communication — An exploration of harmful communication styles and a detailed disscussion of the effectiveness of being assertive.  Training in expressing feelings and needs.

Tool Six — Adjust Those Expectations. Managing expectations can help reduce frustation.  Clients are exposed to 5 skills for managing expectations more effectively

Tool Seven  — Forgive, but don't forget. This chapter explores effective ways for forgiving others while not giving up your rights as a person.

Tool Eight — Retreat and Think Things Over. This chapter explores the "freeze frame" technique as well as the concept of "staying in the box" to calm down.

Almost all quality anger management models in existence today include skills in communication, empathy, and stress management.  We know these areas are important because there is enough research available to support this.  We also know that skills/techniques in forgiveness, expectation management, learning better judgment and impulse control, taking time-outs and improving internal dialog also work, which is why they were incorporated into our model.

How many people reading this blog have actually conducted and written a literature review for a topic of research on your own?  Unless you have completed a masters or doctoral degree you probably have not done this.  How many readers can honestly say you know how to do this and/or can   assess someone's else's research?  Research takes a long time and is tedious.  We did the work.  We created what we believe is a state of the art model of anger management. 

We are not the most popular training provider on the internet, likely due to the fact that our main motivation is not to be internet marketers.....but, we do have a world class model of anger management that will benefit anyone who seeks training as a professional provider of anger management.  We allow our providers the freedom to advertise as they choose, and we don't condemn our trainees if they can't or don't want to buy many of our client workbooks or other related products.  We give discounts and we help our providers anyway we can.

Anyone who is already trained in another model of anger management, we welcome you to view a complementary copy of our curriculum.  Just send us an email and we will respond.  Don't pass judgment until you make a determination on your own.  Judgment and curiosity are like two sides of a coin.  Curiosity leads to many possible conclusions.  Judgment on the other hand leads to only one, and it may be a poor judgment based on false facts or what some else told you.

Anyone who has questions or would like additional information about our model please feel free to contact us either through this blog or on our website at www.centuryangermanagement.com

Tony Fiore, Ph.D.
Ari Novick, Ph.D.

Anger Management Great Niche Market for Professionals

From a business point of view, anger management is a growth industry with many niche markets developing. While the majority of clients still probably come from the court system, it is very possible to build a successful anger management business without court referrals. In fact, sometimes it is wise to have separate programs for court-referred and others.

Possible niche markets that seem to be emerging would include:

• angry couples. Often, couples are referred by marital therapists for specific anger management and communciation skills enhancement. With our model of anger management, couples are taught better ways to communicate.
• angry parents. Many parents attend anger management becuase of anger toward their own children. In fact, numerous parenting books are now recommending anger management as part of better parenting.
• angry children. Many adolescents are very angry and can benefit greatly from learning skills to better deal with their emotions. The Century Anger Management model has a separate workbook for adolescents, which providers say is very useful with clients aged 12-18.
• anger in family businesses. Second generation business or businesses that employ family members often experience much anger which can span from irritation to rage (we consulted with one business wherein a brother tried to murder his sibling on the job).

Century Anger Management offers two new 40-hour certification programs that allows you to add anger management to your practice or agency program. Details by clicking here. 

 

Century Anger Management Offering Discount on Certification Training

Century Anger Management announces a discount this summer of its popular 8-tool anger management certification program. The reason for the discount is to allow more providers to be able to receive our acclaimed 40-hour training. Our new training model can be taken with two options: (1) Two days of live training in Laguna Beach, CA followed by 24 hours of online modules, or, (2) Home study program consisting of a DVD of our  actual trainings plus 32 hours of online modules.

The cost for the Living training option is now $595 (from $695) while the cost for the home-study option is now $495 (from $695).

We have been receiving excellent feedback on our training. The latest is from Racquel Deveaux of St Petersberg, Florida who wrote: "This is the best DVD training so far that I have ever taken...this is an excellent training."

Sign up at http://www.centuryangermanagement.com

and start your anger management career.

New Anger Management Model is a Success

Century Anger Management Model Goes International

This last weekend, Century Anger Management offered a two day anger management certification training at our Laguna Beach based headquarters.  This two day training is part of a 40 hour training requirement of all certified anger management professionals from Century Anger Management.  While the Century Anger Management model is somewhat new, only on its third year, it is becoming one of the most recognized models of anger management training in the nation, and word is spreading internationally. 

At this last training, attendees came from different parts of California, and as far away as Taiwan!  Quality Anger Management training such as the skills taught in the Century Anger Management model include:  Stress Management, Empathy and Emotional Intelligence, Expectation Management, Assertive Communication, Improving Self-talk, Forgiveness, and improving judgment and impulse control.

All Century Anger Management providers are required to complete 40 hours of training to be fully certified through our organization.  Currently there are only two organizations which require this level of training hours to be certified in anger management.  We also teach skills in assessment, as well as require a continuing education requirement to be completed every two years to keep certification current.

While there are no formal standards or regulations on anger management, Century Anger Management is paving the way with others, including the American Association of Anger Management providers to create standards which will ulitmatly help consumers to find quality anger management education.

For more information on the Century Anger Management Model of intervention visit:

www.centuryangermanagement.com
www.angercertification.com
www.ajnovickgroup.com
www.angercoach.com

Tony Fiore, Ph.D
Ari Novick, Ph.D.

Century Anger Management is one of the largest Anger Management Providers of Professional Certification available

Learn To Challenge Negative Automatic Thoughts

Four Ways to Argue with Yourself

At its core, optimism is a style of interpreting events that occur in your world. It is your personal theory or explanation of why good and bad things happen to you.

 

While everyone experiences both setbacks and victories in the normal course of life, optimists—in contrast to pessimists—have a very distinct style of explaining things to themselves.

 

Said another way: It is your belief about what happens to you that determines your reaction, more than the event itself.

 

The knack of disputing your beliefs is a thought-skill, the mastery of which will morph you into the optimistic style of thinking. There are four ways to do this: 

 

 

1. Look at the Evidence

According to Seligman, the most convincing way of disputing a negative belief is to show it is factually incorrect.

 

Most of the time you will have “reality” on your side. Your role is that of a detective as you ask “what is the evidence for my belief?” For example, is it really true that you never succeed in anything? (Very doubtful. Everybody succeeds some of the time). That you are the worse parent you know? (Can you remember any success you have had as a parent?). That you are an incurable glutton? (Can you sometimes resist food?) That you are incredibly selfish? (How many times have you been unselfish?)

 

Using this skill of looking at the evidence, you can defeat pessimism with more accurate perception and recall of what is really true.

 

 

To illustrate this, try the following exercise.

 

List a negative belief or self-talk that you have that causes anger, sadness, or resentment in you.

 

 

Now, what evidence do you have that this belief is true?

 

 

Pretending that you are a “detective,” can you find evidence to the contrary? Evidence that shows your negative belief may not be true or not always true. Be honest and list the evidence, even if you are not yet convinced that it disproves your negative belief.

 

 

2. Consider Alternative Causes

Most events in the world have more than one cause. Pessimists latch onto the most insidious; optimists tend more to give themselves
a break.

 

For example, a marital breakup usually has many causes which probably contributed to its downfall. You can blame yourself. You can blame your partner. A more optimistic interpretation is that neither partner failed as an individual; it was the relationship (the combination) that failed.

 

Continuing with our exercise, try to come up with other events or circumstances that may have contributed to the negative outcome.

could have contributed to the event.

  

could have contributed to the event.

  

could have contributed to the event.

 

3. Put Events Into Perspective

If the facts are NOT on your side and you cannot honestly see other causes to a negative event, you will need to look at the implications of your beliefs in order to become an optimistic thinker.

 

Is the event really as catastrophic as you are making it out to be? Here’s a hint: few things are. Usually, the implications or long-term effects of your misfortune aren’t as awful or devastating as you may be viewing them.

 To think more optimistically, you could view the impact of the negative event in a different way which would decrease your anger. Describe how you might put the event in proper perspective.

4. Is Your Belief Useful?

Even though a belief may, in fact, be true, it may not be useful. Some beliefs cause more grief than they are worth. You may tell yourself you are a failure. This belief will likely cause you to stop trying. Instead, substitute a more useful belief like “Just because I failed once doesn’t make me a failure.” Then, behave accordingly with your new belief.

Challenging automatic thoughts is an excellent technique to improving skills in anger management.  To learn more about the Century Anger Management model of intervention and the "8 Tools of Anger Control" visit www.ajnovickgroup.com or www.angercoach.com.