Anger In The News

Century Anger Management Announces 2008 Training Schedule

Century Anger Management will conduct Live trainings in California in 2008 as follows:

Riverside, CA - February 29th, 2008. Details

Ventura, California - May 16th, 2008. Details

San Francisco/Bay Area - July 25th, 2008. Details

San Diego, CA - October 17, 2008. Details

These trainings constitute 8 hours of the required 40 hours for full certification as an Anger Management Professional by Century Anger Management. The remaining required 32 hours are completed online in 6 modules.

More information aboutour trainings is available at http://www.centuryangermanagement.com or any of our affiliate sites at:

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

San Diego Training Last of Year for Century Anger Management

Century Anger Management completed its 2007 training schedule in San Diego On November 8, 2007 with participants coming from a variety of backgrounds and geographic locations. One was from Southern Illinois and was excited to return there to begin using the Century Anger Management 8-tools model of anger control with both adults and adolescents.

This was a transition year for training as Century Anger Management adopted its new 40-hour model to be consistent with Domestic Violence Training standards in California. With this new training model, participants complete 8 hours "live" training (or with a DVD in our home study program) followed by 32 hours "online" web-based training. Successful completion of the total program earns them a certificate as an Anger Management Professional.

The response to our new training model has been very positive. Participants tell us they appreciate the breadth of skills and knowledge learned in the program which gives them added confidence in their ability to conduct anger management classes using our innovative model of anger management.

We look forward to 2008 when we will have additional trainings in Riverside, Ventura, San Francisco, and San Diego, California.

Recent San Francisco Certification Training a Hit

Recent S.F. Certification Training, yet another Success!

Century Anger Management recently provided a 2 day certification training in anger management, which provided 16 hours of the required 40 hours of total training need for full certification as an anger management professional.  This training was exceptional, with participants ranging from social service providers, to licensed mental health providers, and law enforcement.  Participants were exposed to Century Anger Management's acclaimed "8 Tool Model of Intervention" using our clients workbooks, "Anger management in the Twenty-first Century" and "Anger management in the Twenty-first century for adolescents".

Participants left with two highly useful client workbooks, a companion guide for working with various client populations, and assessment instruction.  All participants will receive a "Level 1" certificate of completion.  The remaining hours are completed through our state of the art online anger management classroom at www.angercertification.com.  The online classes are at no additional charge to our training. 

This 40 hours of certification is world class, and provides new anger management professionals with the tools they need for success.  For more information on our certification training programs in anger management, visit www.centuryangermanagement.com

Tony Fiore, Ph.D.
Ari Novick, Ph.D.
Century Anger Management
www.centuryangermanagement.com

Judgment, Curiosity and Anger Management

One of the concepts we teach in our model of anger management is to learn to not pass judgment so quickly and become more curious. While judgment tends to lead us in only one direction with one conclusion, curiosity opens up all different possibilities for the potential outcome or reason for why something happened or why a person behaved a certain way.

This concept is borrowed from Narrative Therapy pioneer Michael White, but has dramatic uses for anger management. This concept will help better manage expectations as well as come to conclusions that are based on good reasoning rather than a hasty judgments.

Judgments are usually made when we are either misinformed by others or we have a belief about something or someone that is not based on facts, but guided by emotions or irrational thoughts. When we pass judgment, it can often have damaging effects on the recipient as well as the relationship. Things are not always as they appear to seem, and a hasty judgment can ruin a potentially good situation or outcome.

Curiosity on the other hand, opens up many possibilities for why something or someone behaved. When we are more curious and ask questions of curiosity, we are often surprised by the answers. This surprise or change in thinking can often lead to an improved view and a more fact based, realistic interpretation. Curiosity opens up unlimited possibilities for unique outcomes.

Why make a judgment before learning more about that person or their behavior? This judgment is part of a reflex response. We simply get in the habit of passing judgment too quickly or hear bad information and believe it to be true and pass the same judgment before attempting to learn more on our own.

So, give it a try next time you find yourself passing judgment on someone. Ask them some questions about why they did what they did or how they came to the conclusion they did. You might actually learn something unique and different that would otherwise contradict your initial judgment. This will not only reduce your anger, but it will also deepen your relationship.

Ari Novick, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, Century Anger Management
www.centuryangermanagement.com

Distance Learning is Wave of Future

Many universities are now offering students distance learning programs which greatly benefit students who may live in areas quite geographically distant. Anger Management is following the same societal trend, with new online programs being produced by providers across the country. As is true in any new industry, quality control is an issue, so "buyer beware" seems to be a good motto to follow. Century Anger Management takes pride in having developed on online program which is technically state-of-the-art and contains exactly the same material that we use in our local classes. This material has been approved by the Orange County Probation Department for use in one of our local programs; the Orange County Probation department is currently reviewing our online program also for approval.

Our 8-tool model of anger management which is contained in the online program is also approved by the California Department of Corrections for the training of probation and parole officers. Our model of anger management is now used across the nation, from Alaska to Florida and in some other countries such as the Bahamas, Cuba, Malaysia and China. It is the model of choice for many probation departments, social service agencies, church anger management programs, the Salvation Army, and private companies. 

We predict that other probation departments and courts across the land will develop criteria for approval of  online programs, as the need is so great.   When that happens, the Century Anger Management program (marketed as angercoachonline.com and angerclassonline.com) will be poised to apply for approval and continue to provide leadership in this new information-technology world. 

There are providers out there who feel that onlines programs should not be approved. We could not disagree more.  Quality and professionally produced online anger management programs are the wave of the future and will provide another vehicle for anger control in our world which ultimately will benefit all of society.

Important to Teach Empathy Skills in Anger Program

A core tool in the Century Anger Management model of anger management is that of developing more empathy - the skill of seeing and experiencing the world from the perspective of other people. Since it is so important, it is crucial to ask how an anger management professional can best teach this skill to participants? 

We have found that the trainer should start by simply making participants more aware of the concept that increased empathy can decrease anger because it is more difficult to stay angry at someone after you understand where they are coming from and how they are seeing things.

We then find it very effective to explain empathy by use of example or metaphor. We teach our trainers how to use these examples effectively with clients and then encourage trainers to develop their own stock of examples and applications. Story-telling is an extremely effective way to teach empathy because people remember stories much longer than lecture material.

Finally, we teach trainers to have participants rate themselves on empathy skills so they can identify areas of weakness which would need to be developed and practiced between sessions.

Conflict Resolution Skills training important in anger management

Anger is often generated when conflicts arise between people who do not know how to resolve them. Anger Management professionals should teach their clients the skills of conflict resolution. This is done by pointing out the various approaches to conflict resolution, some of which are passive and others more active. These approaches include the following:

• avoidance (withdrawing from conflict),
• accommodating (one person resolves the conflict by giving in to the other person at the expense of his or her own needs),
• Compromising (gains and losses are shared by both people)
• Forcing (one of both people attempt to satisfy their own needs regardless of the impact on the other person)
• Collaborating (both people fully satisfy the needs of other; each individual is a winner)

We teach our clients that the best approach to conflict resolution is sometimes compromise, but almost always collaboration. Collaborating, however, is difficult and requires both people to look beyond the immediate problem and to somehow get on the same side of the issue on a more general level. (For instance, "we disagree on how to raise our daughter, but we both agree something has to be done").

Collaboration takes creativity and work, but successful collaboration as a conflict resolution strategy can produce two winners and is the most assertive approach to conflict resolution.

For more information on our approach to anger management training, visit us at http://www.centuryangerrmanagement.com

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.

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