● <B> Anger management, in its current form, is a relatively new field. How do you explain its emergence ? </B>

We?re getting more and more angry. There?s a connection between stress and anger. If you?re stressed you?ll be a lot more prone to anger. If you look around these days, you can see people kicking things in the street, people shouting at each other, parents shouting at their kids in supermarkets, road rage, increasing cases of domestic violence and child abuse, etc. If you take it on a global level, there are various wars going on. Ultimately, wars are the ultimate expression of anger.

● <B> What is the root of all this rage ? Why is so society so angry ? </B>

There?s a lot of frustration around. People are under more pressure than they?ve ever been. There are environmental pressures, a scarcity of resources and global warming. From a societal point of view, there are huge pressures of change all the time, which people are finding it harder and harder to cope with. At the same time, expectations are rising. We want the best possible services without necessarily having to pay for them. People are expected to work longer hours. We?re all part of the Me society.

● <B> Can anger management help people to control these violent emotions ? </B>

It can do more than that. Anger is a learned habit. We?re so angry at the moment that we think it?s natural whereas, in actual fact, it?s alien to our nature. It can be quite challenging for people to come to terms with this. I work from the assumption that we?re basically peace-loving people. If you take away all the pressure, people will automatically and naturally relax. That reveals their true state, how they want to be. And if that?s their normal state, then it should be relatively easy to get rid of the anger, which is just a secondary reaction.

● <B> If it were that easy wouldn?t the world be a much better place ? </B>

It would be a completely different place. If there wasn?t any anger in the world, there wouldn?t be any armies and we?d have a lot more resources to spend on health and education and things like that. People have forgotten that anger, on one level, is unnatural and that they actually have a choice of whether to get angry or not. They?ve also forgotten that nobody can make you angry. We keep blaming everybody else and telling ourselves that if it weren?t for the government, or for x, y or z then everything would be alright. We?re denying our own personal responsibility. Once I accept that I?m the one who decides to get angry and realize that anger hurts my health and relationships, I become open to a lot of different possibilities.

● <B> What are some of the ways people can go about ridding themselves of all this baggage ? </B>

The first step is to calm down and take control of oneself through breathing slowly, deeply and gently rather than taking short breaths. This gives one a breathing space in which one starts to respond rather than react. The anger management course consists of four steps. The first step is to recognize, analyze and understand the anger. The second one is to go into the subconscious mind and look at the way we think about things. Quite often, we have negative ways of thinking, perceptions and attitudes. These have physiological consequences. Thinking positively can make a huge difference. The third step is to go into the subconscious and release all the pain of past hurts, all the resentment and bitterness. There are different Letting go techniques to achieve this. It also helps to look at the bigger picture. We often tend to focus on the other person without putting them in a wider context. People who get angry are just projecting their issues onto other people.

● <B> Do you think it would be a good thing if all the world?s leaders followed an anger management course ? </B>

It would be brilliant. They?d have to be prepared to do some hard work on themselves, to look at their attitudes, beliefs and values.

<I>«Anger is a learned habit. We are so angry at the moment that we think it is natural, whereas, in actual fact, it is alien to our nature. It can be quite challenging for people to come to terms with this»</I>

● <B> Which head of state strikes you as being especially angry ? </B>

It wouldn?t be right for me to answer that. Anger management is not about condemning or blaming. If I point a finger at somebody, that?s going to lead to a reaction. When I?m looking at my anger or somebody else?s I must do it in a non-judgmental way, almost like a neutral observer. Another crucial thing is to like and love oneself. The most aggressive people are usually the ones who feel the most insecure and unhappy. There?s a strong link between unhappiness and anger.

<I>«People are fed up with the current way of life - with the way education systems work, religions and politics work. Everybody is looking for something positive, something with meaning»</I>

● <B> Are there no useful purposes for anger ? </B>

There are in a sense that it can be seen as a way of learning, growing and changing. But if you actually get angry, it always has negative consequences. The ideal way to communicate is the assertive way. This is a non-violent form of communication. Most people are either passive or aggressive in their anger, which has painful consequences.

● <B> We know that society has a problem with anger. Why aren?t anger management techniques more widely taught in schools ? </B>

The whole of society is geared towards production and consumption. Schools exist to produce workers, not well-rounded individuals with good social skills.

It might happen in the future though. People are fed up with the current way of life ? with the way education systems work, religions and politics work. Everybody?s looking for something positive, something with meaning.

● <B> What would you tell an angry person ? </B>

You don?t have to be the way you are. You can easily get rid of your anger. There are lots of alternatives.