What do you learn in anger management classes?

In anger management classes, you learn practical skills for handling anger before it turns into a problem: how to spot your triggers and early warning signs, how to calm your body down, how to change the thoughts that fuel anger, and how to speak up and solve conflicts without a blowup. It's a skills class, and most of the time is spent learning and practicing those tools.

If a court or probation officer sent you, or you signed up on your own, it's normal to feel a little defensive walking in. You won't be told that you're a bad person or that you should never feel angry. The focus is on what you do next when anger shows up.

What anger management classes are

Anger management is a structured class, usually in a group, that teaches you to control how you respond to anger. There's no official Georgia anger management curriculum, so classes differ. A common approach is cognitive-behavioral, which focuses on the link between what you think, what you feel and what you do.

One well-known model comes from SAMHSA, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which publishes a 12-week cognitive-behavioral anger management program with a participant workbook. This page uses that workbook as its guide, because it's public, detailed and typical of what group classes teach. It starts with three definitions that come up in almost every class:

• Anger is a feeling. It ranges from mild irritation to intense rage.
• Aggression is behavior meant to hurt someone or damage property.
• Hostility is a set of attitudes and judgments that push a person toward aggression.

That split matters. Feeling angry isn't the problem. SAMHSA's workbook says anger becomes a problem when it's felt too intensely, felt too often, or expressed in the wrong way. It also points out that losing your temper has short-term "payoffs," such as releasing tension, and that those payoffs are why the habit sticks even though the long-term costs are far bigger.

The 12 sessions in SAMHSA's model

Here is how SAMHSA's program lays out the skills, week by week. Your class may run a different number of sessions or in a different order, but most cover the same ground.

Session	Topic	What you learn or practice
1	Overview	Purpose of the group, group rules, definitions of anger and aggression, myths about anger, anger as a habit, and the anger meter.
2	Events and cues	The events and "red flags" that set you off, and the four kinds of cues that warn you anger is building.
3	Anger control plans	Building your list of strategies: timeouts, social support, and a deep-breathing exercise.
4	The aggression cycle	Buildup, explosion and aftermath, and how they line up with the anger meter. Progressive muscle relaxation.
5	Cognitive restructuring	The A-B-C-D model for changing angry self-talk, and thought stopping.
6	Practice session 1	Review and practice of everything so far.
7 and 8	Assertiveness and conflict resolution	Aggressive vs. passive vs. assertive responses, and the five-step Conflict Resolution Model.
9 and 10	Anger and the family	How anger was expressed in the family you grew up in, and what carried over into your relationships today.
11	Practice session 2	Review and practice of all the skills.
12	Closing and graduation	Review your anger control plan, rate what helped most, and receive a certificate of completion.

Recognizing your triggers and warning signs

The first skill is noticing. You learn to identify the events that tend to set you off, such as waiting a long time, being stuck in traffic, someone saying something hurtful or untrue, a friend not paying back money, or an inconsiderate neighbor. Classes often call your most sensitive topics "red flags," because they can spark anger fast. SAMHSA's workbook notes that even remembering a past event can bring the anger back now.

Next, you learn to catch the warning signs that anger is building. SAMHSA's model sorts them into four types:

Type of cue	What it looks like
Physical	A faster heartbeat, a tight chest, feeling hot or flushed.
Behavioral	Clenching your fists, raising your voice, staring someone down.
Emotional	Other feelings under the anger, such as fear, hurt, jealousy or feeling disrespected.
Thought	Hostile self-talk, or picturing getting even.

To make this concrete, the workbook uses an anger awareness record: for each episode you note the situation, the cues, your anger meter number, what you did, what happened, and which tools you used. A few weeks of entries show you your own patterns.

The anger meter and the aggression cycle

Many classes use an anger meter to track all of this. It's a 1-to-10 scale, where 1 is completely calm and 10 is an explosive loss of control that leads to negative consequences. You record your highest number each day. Over time you start to see your patterns and notice a 5 or a 6 before it becomes a 10.

SAMHSA ties the meter to the aggression cycle, which has three phases. The buildup is everything below 10 on the meter, when cues are piling up. The explosion is the 10, when anger comes out as verbal or physical aggression. The aftermath is the consequences: jail, restitution, losing a job, being discharged from a treatment program, losing family, and feelings of guilt and shame. The whole point of the class is to interrupt the buildup so the explosion, and the aftermath, never happen.

Calming techniques you practice in class

Once you can see anger building, you need ways to bring it down. Classes teach two kinds of tools: quick ones for the moment, and habits that lower your stress over time.

• Timeouts. In its simplest form, a timeout means taking a few deep breaths and thinking before you react. It can also mean leaving the room and agreeing to come back to the conversation later. SAMHSA suggests a formal timeout agreement with family or coworkers, where anyone can call one and everyone agrees in advance to come back to the talk later. Pairing a timeout with a walk or a call to someone you trust helps too.
• Deep breathing. Slow, full breaths help your body settle. SAMHSA's workbook notes that even three deep breaths can help when anger is rising, and that it works best if you practice it often, in all kinds of places.
• Progressive muscle relaxation. You tense and then relax muscle groups one at a time, from your hands up to your face, so you learn what "relaxed" feels like.
• Longer-term habits. Regular exercise and support from people you trust are part of many anger control plans.

Building your anger control plan

These tools add up to an anger control plan, your personal list of what to do when you feel anger building. Some instructors call it a toolbox. SAMHSA says a good plan has both immediate strategies, such as timeouts, deep breathing and thought stopping, and preventive ones, such as an exercise program and changing unrealistic beliefs.

The workbook's sample plan gives a feel for what yours might look like:

1. Take a timeout.
2. Talk to a friend you trust.
3. Use the Conflict Resolution Model to work through the problem.
4. Exercise, such as a walk or the gym.
5. Attend a support group meeting, if that's part of your life.
6. Look for the primary feeling underneath the anger.

Social support gets its own place in the plan. SAMHSA suggests writing down who you'd reach out to, how that support would help, and how you'll ask for it.

Changing the thoughts that fuel anger

A big idea in anger management is that events don't make you angry on their own. What you tell yourself about the event does. If a driver cuts you off and you think "he did that on purpose to disrespect me," your anger climbs faster than if you think "he probably didn't see me."

SAMHSA's program teaches this with the A-B-C-D model:

1. A, the activating event: what happened.
2. B, your beliefs: what you told yourself about it, and what you expect of other people.
3. C, the consequence: how you felt because of those beliefs.
4. D, dispute: checking whether those beliefs are realistic, and swapping in a more accurate way to see it.

Another tool is thought stopping. Instead of arguing with the angry thought, you tell yourself to drop it, with something like "Don't go there" or "I'll only get into trouble if I keep thinking this way." The workbook presents it as an alternative for people who find the A-B-C-D approach too slow in the moment.

Communicating and solving problems without a fight

Classes also teach you how to stand up for yourself without aggression. You learn the difference between these styles:

• Aggressive: my feelings matter and yours don't. Verbal abuse, threats and violence all fall here.
• Passive: your feelings matter and mine don't, which often leads to resentment and anger at yourself for not speaking up.
• Passive-aggressive: treating a request as unreasonable and quietly ignoring it or undermining the person, instead of saying so directly.
• Assertive: my feelings matter and so do yours. You say what you think without blaming or threatening.

SAMHSA stresses that these are learned behaviors, not fixed traits, so they can be changed. Its five-step Conflict Resolution Model is the practice tool:

1. Identify the problem. For example, a friend is always late when you pick them up.
2. Identify the feelings. Frustration, hurt, annoyance.
3. Identify the specific impact. You were late for the meeting you were both going to.
4. Decide whether to resolve it. Is it important enough to bring up, or can you let it go?
5. Address and resolve it. Set a time to talk, describe how you see it, say how you feel, and discuss a fix.

You practice with real examples from your own life, which is why group classes ask you to bring situations from your week.

Anger and the family

Two sessions in SAMHSA's model look at how anger was handled in the family you grew up in: how each parent expressed anger, whether other emotions were allowed, how you were disciplined, and which of those patterns carry over into your relationships today. The workbook warns that this can bring up uncomfortable feelings and encourages you to talk them through with the group leader.

Four myths about anger

Many classes clear up common myths early. SAMHSA's workbook lists four.

• "The way you express anger can't be changed." Your body's reaction is inherited, but what you do next is learned, and you can even learn to calm down faster.
• "Anger automatically leads to aggression." There are assertive ways to express anger that don't involve dominating or hurting anyone.
• "You have to be aggressive to get what you want." Assertiveness gets your point across while respecting the other person.
• "Venting is always healthy." The workbook says research shows people who vent aggressively, such as by screaming or beating on pillows, simply get better at being angry.

What a first session is like

Details vary by provider, but SAMHSA's first session is a fair preview. It opens with the purpose of the group: learn to manage anger, stop violence or the threat of it, gain self-control over thoughts and actions, and get support from others. Then come the ground rules:

• Safety. No violence or threats toward staff or other members.
• Confidentiality. What other members say stays in the room.
• Between-session challenges. Short homework each week.
• Absences. Call ahead if you can't attend. In SAMHSA's model you may not miss more than 3 of the 12 sessions; miss more and you can keep attending, but you won't receive a certificate of completion.
• Timeouts. The leader can call one at any time, and you'll learn to call your own.

The rest of the session covers the definitions above, the four myths, the idea that anger can become a habit, and the anger meter. Your first homework is to record your highest anger meter number each day for a week. From session 2 on, every session starts with a check-in: your highest number, the event behind it, the cues you noticed, and what you did to avoid reaching 10.

How to get the most out of it

• Do the between-session work. SAMHSA says the skills are best learned by practice and review, and the weekly challenges are where that happens.
• Track the meter every day, not just on bad days. Low numbers tell you what's working.
• Bring real situations. The check-in and the Conflict Resolution Model only help if you use your own examples.
• Practice breathing before you need it. The workbook says the key is practicing often and in many settings.
• Know the attendance rules up front. Ask about makeups before you miss a session, especially if a court deadline is involved.

SAMHSA's model runs as 12 weekly group sessions, but that's one model, not a Georgia rule. If you're taking a class for court, the length you need comes from your order. We explain how to find it in How long are court-ordered anger management classes? If you're weighing a live online class, see Can you take anger management classes online in Georgia? And if you're thinking about starting before sentencing, our guide to starting classes before your court date explains what to check first.

Why these skills matter beyond the class

The obvious benefit is staying out of trouble. SAMHSA's workbook lists what can follow an explosion of anger: jail, restitution, losing a job, being discharged from a treatment program, and losing family and friends, along with guilt, shame and regret. The skills are meant to stop things before they reach that point.

There's a health side too. MedlinePlus, from the National Library of Medicine, notes that people who blow up in anger have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, and that stress raises blood pressure and inflammation. Learning to calm down is good for your body as well as your relationships.

What anger management is not

GCFV explains that the two programs start from different ideas. Anger management treats anger as the trigger for violence. FVIPs treat family violence as learned behavior used to control a partner or family member, so the approach is different.

Anger management also isn't DUI school. If your sentence includes both, they're separate classes with separate certificates. Our guide to what you learn in DUI school covers the other one.

Key terms

• Anger. A feeling, from mild irritation to intense rage. Normal by itself.
• Aggression. Behavior intended to harm a person or damage property. This is what the class aims to prevent.
• Anger meter. A 1-to-10 scale for rating anger, with 10 being an explosive loss of control.
• Cues. Physical, behavioral, emotional and thought warning signs that anger is building.
• Anger control plan. Your personal list of immediate and preventive strategies, sometimes called a toolbox.
• Aggression cycle. Buildup, explosion and aftermath. Interrupting the buildup breaks the cycle.
• A-B-C-D model. Activating event, beliefs, consequences, dispute: a method for replacing angry self-talk with a more realistic view.
• Assertiveness. Expressing anger in a way that respects other people, without blaming or threatening.
• FVIP. Georgia's 24-week certified program for family violence offenses. Not the same as anger management.

Anger management classes at Athena

Athena DUI Academy & Family Enrichment offers anger management classes in Athens for court, probation or personal goals. Our classes cover practical skills for handling anger, stress and conflict. You can attend live online or in person at our office at 110 Athens West Parkway, Ste. C.

If a court or probation officer ordered your class, check your paperwork for the number of hours, then call us at 706.215.9661 so we can help you pick the right class. Register online or by phone, and plan ahead, because classes don't start the same day you register. When needed, we send your certificate of completion to the court, your probation officer or the clerk at no extra cost. If your sentence also includes DUI school, see our DUI school in Athens page.