Anger and Addiction: Breaking the Relapse Cycle: A Teaching Guide for Professionals

This book is an easy-to-read guide for professionals for administering a 12-week anger management program designed to break the cycle of relapse for drug or alcohol addiction. Based primarily on cognitive and behavioral approaches, the anger management program also includes components of rational-emotive therapy and a transtheoretical model of change. The author is a social worker who is also licensed as a chemical dependency counselor.

The program consists of two parts. The first deals with the relationship between anger and relapse, the physiology of anger, identification of cues and triggers, and the role that previous experiences play in current emotions, thought processes, and response choices. The second part focuses on the acquisition of coping skills. Coping strategies include intervention techniques such as time out and self-talk and prevention strategies such as problem solving and communication skills. All of the intervention techniques and strategies are illustrated by case studies. Also addressed is how to deal with common irrational justifications, personalizing responses, and the role and management of stress and resentment in the relapse cycle.

A section on aftercare addresses the importance of continuing integration of material learned during the course of the program. The author suggests how the program can be applied in various settings and with demographically varying client groups. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide is made even more attractive by the inclusion of worksheets.

Ms. Ward is affiliated with the department of psychology at Edith Cowan University in Bunbury, Western Australia.