PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide information about anger management classes and programs outside our immediate area (i.e., Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties). For resources elsewhere, please call your local mental health agencies or any local resource and referral hotline (like "First Call for Help") in your own area.

Anger can be an issue for men or women. Destructive anger can wreak havoc in a man's life--resulting in ruined relationships, job loss, physical endangerment, health problems and trouble with the law. From the time they are small boys, many men have been given the message that being "tough and angry" is the only way to be a man and "stay on top" in this world. While anger is an acceptable emotional expression for men, other feelings--fear, vulnerability, grief--must be kept out of view, and may get channeled into anger and irritability. Women, on the other hand, have been taught that anger is an unacceptable emotion for them, and they should instead focus on taking care of the needs and feelings of others. Yet anger is a natural and legitimate response to many life situations, and when repressed, may surface instead as depression or as explosive and destructive rage.

What do healthy anger and assertiveness look like? Many of us have not had strong role models for how to speak up for ourselves in safe and effective ways. Anger may also derive from patterns of thinking and judgments which make others "wrong" or interpret situations as a threat to one's physical self, self-worth, core beliefs, or loved ones. Whatever the source, patterns of expressing ANGER in problematic or abusive ways are LEARNED behavior, and can be unlearned and replaced with healthier responses.

This class will examine the difference between anger and abuse, and will provide participants with perspectives and skills to express their needs and wants in respectful ways, thus improving the quality of life and interactions with others. We will also explore how women's experience and expressions of anger may differ from men's, and how to deal with anger directed toward you by others. We are sensitive and alert to safety issues, both physical and emotional, and any applicant who doesn't feel safe in a mixed class will be offered a separate gender-specific class, individual counseling, or referrals.

PLEASE NOTE THAT this class is NOT APPROPRIATE for someone who is behaving abusively with his/her partner and family. (Referrals will be made to the MOVE domestic violence intervention program in such cases.) If substance abuse is an additional problem, appropriate referrals will be made, since participants will be expected to be clean and sober in order to attend classes. Group members will also be strongly encouraged to engage in self-care activities regarding their health and general well being. Class size will be kept to a maximum of 12 so that each member receives good support and attention for his/her particular needs and concerns.