Have you kicked your dog today? Anger is bad, right? Stronger, more frightening, and different from the other emotions; but is it really? Lorrainne Bilodeau, M.S., a certified addictions counselor and program director with more than 15 years experience working with anger groups, does a superb job in The Anger Workbook explaining in simple terms not only what anger is and is not but how it fits in the panoply of emotions. In teaching us about the important role anger could play in our life, Bilodeau also enlightens us on how all our emotions can help guide us in living that life.

But that’s not all! This is a workbook too and we’re encouraged to learn from our own experience. This isn’t a book just about anger, it’s a one-on-one personal tutorial where the reader is both student and subject. Bilodeau shares examples from her own life and practice to illustrate many of her points, so one doesn’t feel lonely or abandoned while working with this powerful emotion.

The text is very clear and interesting. However, some of the exercises are repetitive; a result I think of an effort to reassure through standardization but which occasionally disappointed me. I couldn’t wait to try the exercises to see if I had grasped the principles properly, only to find the exercises similar to others in the book rather than unique to the principles being taught. I wish the exercises were as exciting as the text but if I had to choose either clarity or excitement, I’m glad Bilodeau erred on the side of clarity.

If every adult read this book, there probably wouldn’t be any less anger in the world but I think there would be more personal social action and contentedness. Why? The answer is obvious from one of Bilodeau’s personal experiences with anger, the very experience that started her on the road to writing this book. I read the book and count it as one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

Margo McPhillips is a current client of mental health services, an avid reader and participant in MHN’s support forums, works for a large civil engineering firm in Baltimore, Maryland, and enjoys volunteering for local public library systems. Happily married for nearly 10 years to a computer design engineer with three grown sons, she and her husband enjoy camping and race horse handicapping.

Categories: ClientReviews, SelfHelp, MentalHealth

Keywords: anger, self-help, stress management, case studies