Published in 2011
172 pages
Marcia Cannon is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has a doctorate in religious studies with an emphasis on spirituality. Marcia’s doctoral dissertation focused on a controlled study of the gift-of-anger process, a 7-step protocol she developed for using your anger as a dependable guide to deepening your understanding of yourself and increasing your sense of well-being.
Participants in Marcia’s doctoral study reported significant, positive changes in their feelings about themselves and those with whom they had been angry. Further testing showed that these positive changes remained in effect over time. Since that study, clients and workshop participants have consistently reported both increased inner strength and greater ability to handle difficulties in their lives. Many have said that they would never look at anger in the same way again.
Marcia has spent more than fifteen years teaching people how to use their anger positively. In The Gift of Anger, she shares what she has learned, redefining anger as a valuable and useful emotion and teaching a 7-step blueprint for working successfully with anger from the moment you first become aware of feeling something upsetting to the time when you feel more deeply and consciously at peace. Marcia discusses specific steps to take and a specific order for taking them, and fully explains why and how each step works. The process she teaches will help you uncover your anger’s true purpose and learn how to use all of your emotions in ways that further your understanding, your self-confidence, and your sense of inner and inter-personal peace.
Marcia lives in Northern California and has given talks and conducted workshops in a variety of locations in California, Wisconsin, and Ohio, teaching the gift-of-anger process to the general public and to psychotherapists with consistently positive results.
What is this book about?
Anger is a natural response to feelings of hurt, betrayal, and embarrassment, and a reliable outlet when we feel just plain stressed out. Yet many of us see anger as a negative, potentially dangerous emotion that should be suppressed.
But the truth is, anger is a gift—a natural, internal signal that unfailingly identifies an opportunity for healing and growth. The Gift of Anger shows you how to recognize this signal, discover the deeper meaning behind your anger, and change the relationships and situations in your life that frustrate you. In seven simple and effective steps, this book guides you past any level of anger, from mild irritation to rage, and toward a balanced approach to using anger for greater understanding and well-being.
By learning to see anger as a gift, you’ll be able to:
- Regain emotional balance after becoming angry
- Identify and name the unmet needs at the root of your anger
- Create an action plan for ensuring your needs are met
- Understand and forgive others and have compassion for yourself
