Hi Zelda,
I had a therapist who wanted me to whack a pillow or scream or something, because that worked for her when she was angry. It didn't work for me--it seemed like a big disconnect. But my current therapist has done some helpful work with me, where if something has brought up anger in my current life, he'll have me dip briefly into the past and find an experience where I felt the same way as a child, and we'll do some exploration of what I felt, and whether it was ok to feel that way. Anger really ramps up my OCD, because I'm afraid of anger, and go into ritualizing about "do I really feel angry? Am I justified to feel this way? Am I feeling angry enough?" and generally exhausting myself." My therapist is pragmatic--anger is a sign of being exploited by someone or that I believe I am being exploited, and is a motivator to action, to take care of myself, unless the ocd and other crap steps in and gets me stuck in my head with intellectualizing.
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Hi Zelda,
April 15, 2010 - 11:28amI had a therapist who wanted me to whack a pillow or scream or something, because that worked for her when she was angry. It didn't work for me--it seemed like a big disconnect. But my current therapist has done some helpful work with me, where if something has brought up anger in my current life, he'll have me dip briefly into the past and find an experience where I felt the same way as a child, and we'll do some exploration of what I felt, and whether it was ok to feel that way. Anger really ramps up my OCD, because I'm afraid of anger, and go into ritualizing about "do I really feel angry? Am I justified to feel this way? Am I feeling angry enough?" and generally exhausting myself." My therapist is pragmatic--anger is a sign of being exploited by someone or that I believe I am being exploited, and is a motivator to action, to take care of myself, unless the ocd and other crap steps in and gets me stuck in my head with intellectualizing.
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