Embracing Anger

Lane Rogers, Advanced Clinical Fellow

Anger can be a complicated emotion to connect with. Many of my clients resist embracing their anger and often worry that by expressing anger they will be seen as an “angry person”.

Like all emotions, anger can offer us important information about our lived experiences. Anger can indicate that we are experiencing injustice, mistreatment or that our core values are being compromised in some way. Anger can also tell us that our boundaries are being threatened or a sign that our needs are going unmet in some way. If we are willing to acknowledge our anger, we have an opportunity to listen to what it has to say and perhaps even enact changes in our workplaces, communities and relationships to address the source of our anger. 

Instead of pushing our anger away, can we approach our anger with curiosity? What “rules” have you learned about anger and how you are expected to express anger? Can you be open to naming when anger comes up for you and what physical sensations may be associated with anger for you? Mindfulness can be a valuable tool to turn inward to connect empathetically with anger without feeling at the mercy of this emotion. 

I welcome you to open yourself up to the possibility of experiencing your anger, just as you experience joy, sadness. When we give ourselves permission to connect with and express a wider range of emotions, we give ourselves permission to live and connect with the world around us more authentically.