INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / APRIL 11, 1989

 

 

 

 

 

 

Workshop Deals With Anger

All of us experience anger at
some point in our lives, but for
some people anger leads to
violence or abuse.

Dr. Bob Gilliland says there
are thousands of triggers for
anger, including job frustration,
grief, guilt, criticism and emo-
tional hurt. Anger patterns are
usually laid down in childhood,
he says, and people act out those
patterns in their adult lives.

"Anger is often a way for
men to handle feelings of dis-
comfort," he says, "and that’s
why we’re seeing an increase in
physical or verbal abuse. It’s a
way of acting out anger, a stress
response."

De-escalating Anger and
Violence is the topic of a two-

 

day workshop at Douglas Col-
lege April 20 and 21. It is run
by Dr. Gilliland who has a

master’s degree in social work
and a doctorate in psychology.

The course is designed for
people working with angry and
potentially violent or abusive
clients. Gilliland says it will be
of use to social workers, counsel-
lors or those who work with
families where anger is a sig-
nificant problem.

"It’s a workshop to make
people more comfortable in deal-
ing with anger."

"We present a picture of the
anger cycle and teach people
how to come to grips with the
anger response. Many people
literally freak out when the

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Jones and Drew Young present the proceeds from the benefit performance of
"Inherit the Wind" to Randi Duke and Cathy Daminato of the Douglas College
Foundation. The performance raised $300 in support of student scholarships and

bursaries.

 

people they’re working with get
angry, especially if it leads to
violence or abuse," he says. "If
we de-escalate anger or defuse
it, abuse and violence won’t
occur."

Dr. Gilliland will present a
model for understanding and
identifying anger, and par-
ticipants will learn how to assess
their clients potential for
violence or abuse.

The best way to de-escalate
anger, says Dr. Gilliland, “is to
identify what the person is feel-
ing or thinking, and then talk
them through it."

A common example of acting
out anger, says Dr. Gilliland, is
the man who has a rough day at
work and takes it out on his wife
and kids. “We call it the dump-
ing phenomena," he says. "We
must help the man understand
why he’s really upset. We can
teach him to identify the early
signals or warning signs, before
his anger leads to violence or
abuse."

Dr. Gilliland says crisis and
emergency phases of anger will
be discussed in the workshop,
and appropriate strategies for in-
tervening will be identified.

De-escalating Anger and
Violence will be offered
Thursday April 20 from 7:30
p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday
April 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 4
p.m. The fee is $60. For more
information, call Douglas Col-
lege at 520-5479.