Offering the Quick Fix

By Sonia Brill, LCSW, CAMF

Anger can be one of the most frightening and complicated emotions people can experience. Destructive anger can land people in jail. If you have an anger problem, who would you seek if you were facing potential jail time for an anger-related act: an expert in the field who has at least 40 hours of anger management training, or an individual who is still under supervision with 8 to 16 hours of training? Additionally, if the facilitator with the fewer hours of training offered classes for a shorter duration, say 4 to 5 meetings, than the more “skilled” trainer, who would you seek out now?

Your answer might be dependent on your conditioned ideal of getting the “quick fix.” We live in a society in which we want what we want, and we want it now. If we have a headache, the fix is a pill. Never mind what might be causing the headache. If you have been to the supermarket lately, you may have seen entire meals in a box. No reason to cook for the family anymore. No time to get out of the car and pick up dinner? Then the fix is a “to go” spot at the restaurant. The restaurant employee brings the meal to the car. Now we don’t need to spend the entire evening in the restaurant. We are conditioned to reach for the easy way out. We know that in some cases, taking the easy way could be a blessing.

In the case of anger management, however, the quick fix can lead to quick disasters. In most states, there is no or few regulations/legislation mandating the teaching of anger management. In other words, the consumer can go to any class and present a certificate to the judge, with a completion of course work. However, like most things, each program is different, as is each provider. Anyone can set up a program. Some providers now have as few as 8 to 16 hours of training. Ask yourself: If you are seeking a professional in an alternative field, say for depression, would you see someone with such skimpy credentials?

For most psychotherapeutic practitioners, it takes a minimum of 6 years to complete a professional program and years of practice to legitimately call themselves an expert in that field. Most professionals are also required to complete CEUs, or continuing education, to keep abreast of new information and techniques for treating their clients. In many states, however, individuals can set up “shop” without a license to practice. Similarly, consumers can take classes of anger management from an untrained or minimally trained provider who offers fewer classes.

One has to consider the agenda of this type of practice. People with problems of anger have a difficult time delaying their gratification and need to release frustration quickly. Often, they have problems identifying consequences, or consequences can be identified, but they have problems actualizing them until they are there. A quick fix now, through fewer classes by a less-trained provider, insidiously meets the immediate needs of the person who has the anger problem. It’s done. The client feels she or he has met some requirement. No one really knows what requirement has been met. Nor can it be determined if the treatment received was worthwhile. All that’s known is that it is done. In the long run, the consumer misses out; the problem is still there.

To become an expert in any field requires extensive training, development of a knowledge base, and a sound practice based on fundamental ethics. People who suffer from anger problems often face losing their relationships, jobs, and, ultimately, themselves.

As a trained anger management facilitator and clinician in private practice, I think we need to be mindful of vulnerabilities faced by those clients we are serving and anchor ourselves in the values of why we went into the helping profession in the first place.

Sonia Brill, LCSW, CAMF, owner of Anger X change, located in Denver, Colorado, is developing what will be a significant Anderson & Anderson service program for the Rocky Mountain region. The program includes the Anger Management Map, which pinpoints, measures, and scores anger into four significant categories.
Ms. Brill received graduate training from New York University and post-graduate training in Group and Family Work from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Group and Family Institute.

You can reach her by calling 303-267-2302, or visit us on the Web at www.angerxchange.com.