The Adolescent Referral as a Ticket for Parents

Adolescent turmoil is often a ticket for anger management for parents. Anger is a normal human emotion. It is considered a problem when it is too intense, occurs too frequently, lasts too long, impacts health, is harmful to self or others, leads to aggression or violence, or damages interpersonal relationships.

Teen behavior is generally an exaggeration of the patterns of behavior learned from parents. When parents begin to observe an imitation of their own angry expressions in their offspring, they suddenly recognize the need for help.

Case Example

A man from an affluent family requested help for his 17-year-old son who had physically attacked his mother. A careful review of the situation revealed an extremely bright youngster who had excelled in all high school subjects and had received scholarships to four of the top Universities in the Nation.

At age 13, this youngster had injured himself after smashing his hand through a window in a fit of anger. He had also smashed a computer monitor in reaction to a threat made by his mother.

An assessment of both parents showed a long-standing pattern of aggression and counter aggression between the two. The mother scored in the develop range in assertive communication, high in aggression, low in deference and the develop range in empathy.

The father scored in the normal range in all categories except assertive communication, in which he scored in the develop range. The develop range in any category means that the level of functioning represents a deficit in skill development for that particular category.

In this particular case, while this young man needed anger management, so did both parents. Therefore, the son was the ticket for help that both parents needed in terms of skill enhancement in anger management, stress management, communication and emotional intelligence.


George Anderson, MSW, BCD, CAMF, CEAP
Diplomate, American Association of Anger Management Providers
http://www.andersonservices.com/
http://www.angertrends.blogspot.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/coachinganger
www.anger-management-resources.org