Anger Management Counselling and Therapy
At In Focus, we offer anger management counselling and therapy to help individuals understand, manage, and express anger in a healthy and constructive way. Our counselling and therapy sessions helps to improve communication, and develop self-awareness.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor
Anger Management Therapy: Finding Clarity and Effective Control
Anger is a normal human emotion. Feeling angry is a natural response to adverse external events like mistreatment, losses, or injustice. This emotion pushes us into action to rectify the situation. Anger is not a problem. It only becomes an issue when it is not expressed constructively and can be better controlled and managed through anger management therapy.
Everyone feels angry from time to time. However, when anger becomes overwhelming or hard to manage, it can strain our relationships and affect our overall well-being. Learning to understand when we are prone to feelings of anger can help us gain more clarity, find ways to manage it effectively and work towards being more in effective control. Anger management therapy, goes beyond anger management sessions, to provide opportunity to us to discover insights into our own experiences and under our emotions to learn to respond in healthier, more constructive ways.
Recognising When You May Experience Anger
Each of us reacts to different situations differently. Some common situations that bring up anger include feeling dismissed, overwhelmed with responsibilities, or facing injustice. Anger may also arise in situations involving grief and loss. Recognising the situations where we are more prone to strong feelings of anger is the first step in managing it. When we can identify such moments, we can pause, take a step back, and handle them with a clearer mind rather than letting emotions direct our actions. Anger counselling services in Singapore at In Focus Counseling & Therapy can help you identify these situations.
Warning Signs Of Anger Being Out of Control
Anger is often felt in the body through bodily sensations. We might feel our heart race, tightness in our chest, muscles tensing, shallow breathing, and heat in the body. Emotionally, anger may be present in varying degrees, from irritation or annoyance (milder levels) to infuriation or outrage (greater intensity). When anger becomes overwhelming or difficult to manage due to frequency of anger episodes or intensity of the emotions, it can affect your day-to-day life, well-being and relationships.
Here are some warning signs of out-of-control anger:
- Sudden aggressive flare-up without warning or explosive rage over what seems minor on hindsight. The anger escalates, remains intense and there is difficulty calming it down. Such aggressive behaviours can range from shouting, swearing, threatening to physical violence against others, self or objects.
- Frequent replaying of past hurts or grievances in the mind or recounting of experiences over and over due to difficulty letting go of them. Present unrelated incidents frequently bring up strong feelings of resentment and anger associated with the past grievances.
- Intense physiological reactions accompanying anger that remains even after an episode of outburst is over such as racing heart rate, tension in muscles, shortness of breath.
- Frequent heated arguments with others resulting in highly strained conflictual relationships. Even when there are regrets over things said or done in anger on hindsight, the cycle repeats.
- Self-destructive or aggressive behaviours when anger is turned inward. This may be in the form that harms the self mentally such as self-blame and self-loathing thoughts, and those that harm self physically like acts of self-harm of hitting, cutting oneself to other risky behaviours.
Recognising these signs early allows us to take action to help ourself to respond differently and reduce the harm that out-of-control anger can do to our well-being and relationships.
Consequences of Poor Anger Management
How each person learnt to express anger differs. Some learnt to express anger aggressively (e.g., yelling, lashing out, violence), some learnt to express indirectly (e.g., silent treatment, sarcasm), while some learnt to avoid and suppress (e.g. saying “it’s ok” when something is not ok). These are ineffective ways of managing anger and are counter-productive in meeting our needs.
If unaddressed, they may adversely impact our relationships, work, family, social life, and physical and mental health in the following ways:
- Strained relationships
Explosive outbursts of anger feels threatening to others, while emotional withdrawal hurts others. We may feel more isolated and alone as we struggle with connecting with our loved ones. - Communication breakdown
We have difficulty expressing ourselves clearly, constructively and find it hard to hear others’ perspectives. As a result, communication breaks down and we may grow further apart from those we care about. - Increase in stress and physical health issues
We stress our body when we experience chronic anger. This could lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, heart problems, and weakened immune function, affecting overall health. - Affect performance and productivity
Uncontrolled anger can create tensions with colleagues or school-mates that affect the working relationship, and ability to focus and be effective in our work - Risk to personal safety and well-being
We may put ourselves in danger when we react aggressively to others who may react similarly to us with aggression, violence. And in cases where we turn anger inwards to self-harm or self-destructive behaviours, we endanger ourselves. - Adverse impact on overall emotional health
As we experience the negative consequences of ineffective anger management such as disconnection and isolation, we may in turn feel other feelings such as anxiety, sadness, guilt.
Anger management therapy can help you develop healthier ways to understand, process, and express your emotions
If you experience these signs, seeking professional help is crucial.
Working Through Emotions Towards Self-Discovery
Feeling angry, or the associated feelings of annoyance, irritation, and disconnection, is challenging. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
At In Focus, we believe anger tells us much about ourselves. Working with a professional counsellor can lead to a deeper understanding of the messages behind anger, discovering more about oneself and what matters.
Rather than suppressing feelings, anger management therapy helps us learn to regulate emotions and express feelings and needs healthily without losing control. This leads to stronger relationships and a healthier, more satisfying life.
How Counselling Service Can Help You Manage Anger Differently
Through anger management counselling or anger management therapy at In Focus in Singapore individuals experiencing anger management struggles have a safe space to get help.
Our counsellors go beyond techniques, seeing clients as unique individuals with hopes, yearnings, values, and beliefs influenced by their life story Here’s how anger management therapy can help at In Focus:
- Uncover underlying issues
When anger appears out of control, it is important to understand what is the underlying issue. Through the process, we gain a better understanding of what’s behind the anger, including beliefs, values, significant experiences that are playing out in our current life. - Improve sense of self
Our feelings are indicators that we have certain needs that are not met. Through anger management therapy, we gain clarity and confidence in what matters to us, learn what are our boundaries and negotiables in different situations and contexts. - Develop effective and healthy anger management skills
We help our clients manage the anger more effectively through relevant skills such as internal awareness, emotional regulation, effective communication of needs, and boundary setting with others and with oneself. - Improve relationships
When needs and boundaries are expressed clearly with healthy assertiveness rather than aggression or avoidance, it helps us better get along with others. We help others understand us better when we speak up in a way that facilitates understanding rather than instill fear or confusion. - Expand perspectives and shift from unhelpful patterns
With more clarity of what’s behind the anger and untangling various layers of complex feelings, we expand our perspectives, Rather than stay stuck in cycles of negative thoughts and actions that continue to fuel anger, we can choose alternatives to think or act differently to improve our situation.
Anyone seeking counselling support at In Focus will feel accompanied on the journey to healthier ways of relating to anger, communicating feelings, and developing empowerment and well-being. If you are looking for anger management services in Singapore, contact us today.
Contact us today to find out more on how we can support you or your loved ones through anger management counselling.
Our Approaches
At In Focus, we take a client-centred approach, and we ease clients into a therapy environment where they can feel safe in exploring their emotional state. We aim to impart skills for self-directed emotional regulation, and provide a close sense of support in helping them address their challenges.
Additionally, our approaches are backed by psychological principles and neuroscience. Growth and change is possible regardless of age due to the flexibility of our brain (a.k.a. neuroplasticity). Counselling and therapy provides the experiences and new options possible for shaping how our brain grows and works. When the new neural networks are formed and re-activated with repetition and intentionality over time, they tend to run automatically. On this basis, we meet our clients weekly or fortnightly and help our clients work through their issues. Our approaches are informed by several proven methods of counselling, including Choice Theory & Reality Therapy and Emotion Focused Therapy. These are integrated with other complementary approaches in professional counselling such as Person-Centred Therapy. Based on an initial consultation, we select the most appropriate approach, or a combination of approaches, to find the best path in helping clients work towards healing and self-empowerment.
Choice Theory & Reality Therapy (CTRT)
CTRT emphasises empowerment through personal agency and the power of choice in creating meaningful change. It helps individuals recognise their current best attempts to meet basic psychological needs but which may have inadvertently compromised other needs. It helps individuals discover alternative and more effective ways while getting along with people who matter to them. CTRT is a versatile approach. At In Focus, CTRT is practiced in an empathic and compassionate way, pacing with clients’ readiness for change. At the same time, clients see hope in practical and action-oriented ways towards living a life of greater internal freedom.
Emotion Focused Therapy Approach
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) is based on the idea that emotions are important part of who we are. It helps clients access, understand, and transform emotional responses, especially the overwhelming and ‘numbed out’ emotions. EFT approach facilitates the process of connecting to the emotions in a safe way. Unlike behaviour or cognition driven therapies, EFT focuses deeply on emotional processing to create self awareness, lasting internal change and shifts in interpersonal dynamics.
To find out more about the various approaches, click here.
Our Anger Counselling Therapists
At In Focus, counsellors prioritise working with you to understand what matters most and how to best support you, rather than relying on a direct diagnosis or applying static labels onto clients.
We believe anxiety symptoms can indicate deeper issues, and we create an empathic, non-judgmental environment for exploring these issues through anxiety therapy. Working beyond diagnosis has been proven to empower individuals long-term, and helps them connect with their own emotional experiences.
Senior Principal Counsellor, Counselling Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor
Evelyn Rochelle Koh
Evelyn is a highly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist with over 20 years of practice, working with youths, couples, families, and individuals to support their emotional and mental well-being. She is a passionate educator and clinical supervisor, training and mentoring professionals across the helping fields, and brings warmth, clarity, and empowerment to her therapeutic work.
Senior Counsellor
Cheryl Lee
Cheryl is a dedicated counsellor driven by a deep passion to help others live life meaningfully. She works with adults, youths, and couples on a wide range of emotional and relational challenges, using an integrative approach grounded in Choice Theory Reality Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy. Cheryl creates a safe and empathetic space where clients can explore their struggles, reconnect with themselves, and move towards more empowered and fulfilling lives.
What Our Clients Say
We’re grateful to share these testimonials, kindly given with permission. To respect our clients’ privacy, counselling clients’ names have been changed according to their preferences.
How to Get Started
Our counselling sessions begin from $150/hr for individuals and $200/hr for couples and family counselling. Each session lasts 1.5hrs on average to allow for meaningful exploration and processing. Sessions are held weekly or fortnightly. We recommend weekly sessions as lasting change happens with consistency, close follow-up and support, and deepening of the work over time. All sessions are conducted in person, face-to-face to support meaningful connection and engagement in a safe space.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I expect in anger management counselling?
Anger issues are often related to other underlying factors. This may include depression, anxiety, past emotional distress, or unfair treatment. Beyond learning how to express feelings constructively, our counsellor can work with you to make sense of the emotions and uncover the underlying issues beneath the anger. This is in line with our belief at In Focus in nurturing the whole person, which is more than anger management therapy that focuses on outward behaviour changes.
Where there are past experiences that have a bearing on your present struggles, these can also be worked through in the therapy process towards healing and empowerment.
What should I do if I feel stressed around someone who has difficulties managing his anger, but this person does not agree there is an issue and not open to counselling.
It can be stressful experiencing anger that is out of control or unpredictable, and particularly worrying if there are safety concerns. It may further be disappointing when the individual involved does not agree with you there is an issue and declines the idea of counselling help.
Counselling and therapy has to be voluntary. If you experience distress being around the individual, often feel uneasy even when things appear calm or feel unsure or confused about your own reactions to the anger, we would recommend that you begin first with individual counselling to get the support you need. Apart from emotional support, individual counselling also provides you a space to understand your own internal experiences and your own responses to the situations and to learn to manage differently.
If you feel you may be in danger of physical, verbal or emotional abuse and your safety or the safety of your loved ones are at risk, talking to a counsellor helps you process your experiences, gain perspective of the situation and work out plans for safety.
Who can benefit from anger management counselling?
Anyone who feels their anger is affecting their relationships, work, or daily life can benefit from this. It offers a supportive space to explore the anger and what’s behind it and discover ways to respond differently and in a manner more helpful to oneself and one’s relationships.
Do I need to meet a certain threshold before I consider anger management counselling and therapy, such as the frequency of feeling out-of-control or acting out?
Not at all. It is for anyone who wants to handle moments of frustration or anger better, no matter how often they occur. In fact, the sooner one starts counselling, the sooner one is on the path of better understanding oneself and working towards being in effective control in life situations.
Can anger management therapy help with workplace challenges?
Yes, it can. Learning what is behind the anger and how to communicate one’s needs effectively, especially during times of stress, can make a big difference in workplace relationships and help you feel more confident managing conflict or pressure.
Get In Touch With Us Today
Interested in exploring counselling and therapy? Leave us a message or call us at +65 8725 9303.
Visit our FAQ page to find answers to some of the most common questions.
If you need immediate help, please call SOS at 1800 221 4444 (24 hours) or send an email to pat@samaritans.org.sg
ABOUT US
At In Focus, we empathise with our clients as they go through myriad of life’s problems, stresses and challenges which are overwhelming at times. As these happened to us too. The only difference is, it is our profession to help others overcome these life hurdles so as to live life to the fullest.
OUR SERVICES
We have a range of services available for your consideration depending on your needs. You can get in touch with us for coaching services, corporate consultation, professional training, counselling and psychotherapy services. Please visit our services page to see what we offer.
CONTACT US
Phone: +65 8725 9303
Email: enquiry@in-focus.com.sg