How to Communicate With Angry Clients in a Counseling Environment

Anger is a normal, healthy feeling. However, communicating with an angry client during a counseling session can be challenging for a therapist, especially if the client acts in an aggressive manner by yelling, or using sarcasm and put-downs. The goal of the counselor in this situation is to accept the client for who he is while setting firm limits about how to express anger in a healthy manner. This takes time and commitment from the client and the therapist.

Things You'll Need

• Assertiveness

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Instructions

• 1

  Create a safe environment and strong therapeutic alliance with your client. Find out her likes, dislikes and reactions to the people in her life. The more your client feels listened to, understood and empathized with, the more she will trust you. Assess her level of self-esteem, her feelings about herself and her feelings about the circumstances in her life. Your client will begin to open up about her angry feelings once you form a bond with her.

• 2

  Encourage your client to put all of his feelings, especially angry ones, into words. Dr. Pauline Verona of Budd Lake, New Jersey, reports that when her patients are able to verbalize their feelings, the chances of them acting out in a counseling environment is minimal. Encourage your client to use words to express his anger in an assertive, non-threatening manner. Stop a client when he becomes aggressive, acknowledge his angry feelings and model the appropriate way to express it.

• 3

  Help your client recognize the triggers for her anger. Ask probing questions when situations arise that cause your client annoyance, anger or rage. If you feel your client's anger is out of proportion to the current event, point this out to her and ask questions to assist her in finding the true source of her anger. Once you identify the source of her anger, take steps to help her make positive changes that can eliminate or reduce her angry feelings. These can include making changes to relationships in her life, learning to manage her feelings and cope in different situations, meditation, deep breathing, exercise or a new hobby.

• 4

  Teach clients that all feelings are okay. The way clients choose to express them can help them or hinder their lives. Let them know it is never okay to attack or abuse anyone emotionally or physically and that it is equally harmful to allow someone else to attack them.