Any expression (or repression) of anger is beside the point. After all, noone feels angry unless there is some sort of threat they are perceiving. Anger is really a sort of appendix of the emotions. It once served a useful purpose when men lived in caves but serves no real purpose today. Usually when we feel our anger rousing up, it's helpful to figure out what we're vulnerable about, then figure out a more sophisticated way to deal with that vulnerability.
"Anger, like the appendix, is a vestigial feeling of little functional utility. But like the appendix, it can get inflamed and cause lots of damage to self and others. I'm concerned whenever I hear of teaching clients to 'express their anger,' or to 'control their anger' for that matter. If we stop at the anger, we may miss the more important issues."
ILLUSTRATION (DAVE WHAMMOND)
Tom Dixon, L.C.S.W., Mountainview Counseling Center, Marietta, Georgia, excerpted from the Family Therapy Networker (Vol. 17, No. 1)
