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Q: I have acknowledged the fact that I have an anger problem, but I have not been able to find a way to deal with it. When I get angry I scream, curse, and get verbally abusive with the person that I am angry with. I have broken objects by throwing them across the room or by simply breaking them myself. I have injured myself by punching and kicking walls and random objects. Whenever I try to control my anger I feel light-headed, weak and shaky. After my anger passes I feel frustrated because I couldn’t control myself and break down in tears.
I have seen a therapist before for my anger issues and it only helped me for a couple of days before I was my old self again. While in therapy the therapist handed me a paper with a list of questions, one of the questions being; “have you ever been sexually abused?” I answered no, even though I experienced sexual abuse as a child. When I was 7 I started being abused by a close family mem
ber, it lasted until I turned 11 1/2 years old (when I started puberty.) I have never told anybody about it because I feel embarrassed and ashamed of the fact that the abuse lasted for so long. I know that the abuse was not my fault but I find myself constantly blaming myself for it because I never told anyone about it. I’m now 21 years old and I am afraid that I will hurt someone due to my anger. The relationships that I have been in before have not lasted long due to my anger and I’m tired of not being in control of my emotions.
I am seeking advice for what I should do to try and resolve my problem. I know that by talking about my abuse with someone I might be able to let the emotions that I have locked inside out, but I know that I will never be able to talk to someone about it due to the embarrassment that I feel. So I’m kind of at an edge here. Any type of advice would be helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
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To find a therapist who can help resolve your abuse issues click Find Help. Please visit www.malesurvivor.org for more resources to heal from male childhood sexual abuse.
Meet Ashley Eder, LPC and her therapy dog “Angel.” While I know therapists who’ve brought their dog into the therapy office occasionally (it wasn’t necessarily “therapeutic” for colleagues or clients) Ashley is the first therapist I’ve met who uses a therapy dog as a purposeful tool in clinical practice.
It makes sense that certain clients would feel at ease and find contact with a dog to be calming during therapy sessions. In her Boulder, CO private practice, Ashley specializes in body-centered psychotherapy and mindfulness interventions to treat somatic complaints, such as body image, self-harm, chronic pain, abuse recovery, and eating disorders in young adults in their teens and twenties.
In addition to her clinical practice Ashley provides counselor education, training, community building and supervises other counselors toward licensure. See how Ashley spends her day balancing family (she’s a mom of one) and her clinical practice.
A Day In The Life
January 23, 2012
6:50AM
Wake up to the sound of my 15 month old son chattering to himself in his bedroom. He is currently my alarm clock, and this is excellent arrangement when he sleeps past 6AM. I listen to him babble and do a quick first check of email to see if there is anything I need to know heading into my day. Read more
In December, Sharecare Now named me the #1 online depression influencer of the past year! Crazy, huh? I love how the internet makes the world feel smaller because it allows us to talk to people all over the planet!
Since December, I’ve been in touch with the great folks at Sharecare who are passionate about connecting people with accurate health information online. A few weeks ago I chatted with the delightful Anne Kerueger, the Editorial Director at Sharecare.com about my life experience, how I became a therapist in the mental health field, what I wish clients understood, and why I’m thrilled when high-profile stars talk about their mental illness.
