At ChrysalisPsychology & Wellbeing, our psychologists in Hobart provideevidence-based support for anger, aggression, and emotional dysregulationacross the lifespan, and an anger management appointment is available foradults, young people, and children. We also offer telehealth psychology across Australia. Please contact us for more information.
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You did not plan it. One moment you were managing, and the next the words came out harder than you meant them to, or louder, or with an edge you wish had not been there. The look on their face after. The silence in the car on the way home. Or maybe it is not what you say. Maybe it is the pressure that builds for hours or days before it releases. The way small frustrations stack until the last one tips everything over. If you have been searching for an anger management psychologist in Hobart, this pattern is often exactly where people begin.
Anger is not inherently a problem. It is a natural, important emotion that signals when something feels threatening, unfair, or wrong. Problematic anger occurs when the intensity of the anger response is disproportionate to the trigger, when it causes significant distress or harm to relationships, or when it is outside of the person’s control in ways that are causing problems (DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2007).
Anger is often described as a secondary emotion: one that covers or protects a more vulnerable underlying feeling such as fear, grief, shame, or hurt. When the underlying feeling is difficult to access or tolerate, anger can become the default response across a wide range of situations.
Emotional dysregulation refers more broadly to difficulty managing the intensity and expression of emotions generally, not just anger. It is a transdiagnostic feature that appears across many conditions including PTSD, ADHD, autism, depression, and personality difficulties.
Intermittent Explosive Disorder, the clinical diagnosis most closely associated with recurrent, disproportionate anger outbursts, is estimated in large-scale international epidemiological research to affect between around 5 and 7 per cent of adults over their lifetime (Kessler et al., 2006). Anger and emotional dysregulation are highly responsive to evidence-based psychological treatment.
Adults with problematic anger frequently describe a sense of frustration and helplessness: they know their reactions are causing harm and want to respond differently, but in the moment the response feels automatic. This is a common and treatable experience, not a fixed personality trait, and often has roots in earlier experiences including childhood environments where anger was modelled or suppressed, or where significant trauma occurred.
Anger and emotional outbursts in children are developmentally normal to a point, but persistent, intense, or escalating anger affecting daily functioning, relationships, or school life warrants support. In young people, problematic anger may reflect difficulties with emotional regulation, neurodevelopmental differences, anxiety expressed as irritability, or responses to stress and trauma in the family or social environment. We provide developmentally appropriate individual therapy and work with parents and families to support consistent approaches across home and school settings
Treatment for anger and emotional dysregulation is practical, structured, and grounded in the best available evidence.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): CBT for anger identifies the thought patterns and interpretations that trigger and escalate anger, building more flexible ways of appraising situations and interrupting the anger cycle before it escalates. A 2015 meta-analysis found CBT-informed anger management produced statistically significant reductions in anger across controlled studies (Henwood, Chou, & Browne, 2015).
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): DBT provides targeted skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness (Linehan, 2015).
Mindfulness-based approaches: Mindfulness builds the capacity to notice emotional activation early, creating the gap needed to choose a response rather than react automatically
Schema Therapy: Where anger patterns are rooted in deep early experiences, Schema Therapy addresses the underlying beliefs and modes that drive the anger response.
Trauma-informed therapy: Where anger is connected to unresolved trauma, EMDR and other trauma-focused approaches may be used to address the underlying source.
Your first session is a non-judgemental space to talk about what is happening with your anger and how it is affecting your life. We do not approach this work from a place of blame. Anger is often a very human response to very real pain, and we work with you to understand it and manage it more effectively.
We accept Medicare Mental Health Treatment Plans, NDIS (self-managed and plan-managed), DVA, Open Arms, National Redress Scheme, Workers Compensation, and private health insurance. Self-referral is accepted and no GP referral is required to book.
Is anger itself a mental health problem?
No. Anger is a natural, healthy emotion. It becomes a concern when its intensity is disproportionate to the trigger, when it causes significant distress or harm to relationships, or when it feels outside your control.
Can therapy really help if my anger feels automatic?
Yes. Therapy works by building the capacity to notice the earlier stages of anger, escalation rather than peak, so there is a genuine window to choose a different response. This capacity can be built with practice.
Do you work with children and young people, not just adults?
Yes. We provide developmentally appropriate therapy for children and young people experiencing anger and emotional dysregulation, and work with parents and families to support consistent approaches across home and school.
What if my anger is connected to something that happened in the past?
Anger connected to earlier experiences or unresolved trauma is common. Depending on your situation, we may use Schema Therapy or trauma-focused approaches such as EMDR alongside CBT or DBT skills.
Is anger management covered by Medicare or NDIS or third-party?
Many clients access sessions through a Medicare Mental Health Treatment Plan. NDIS participants, DVA and Open Arms clients, National Redress Scheme, and those with workers compensation private health cover may also be eligible.
Australian Psychological Society. (2024). Evidence-based psychological interventions in the treatment of mental disorders: A literature review (5th ed.).
DiGiuseppe, R., & Tafrate, R. C. (2007). Understanding anger disorders. Oxford University Press.
Henwood, K. S., Chou, S., & Browne, K. D. (2015). A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of CBT informed anger management. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 25(Part B), 280–292.
Kessler, R. C., Coccaro, E. F., Fava, M., Jaeger, S., Jin, R., & Walters, E. (2006). The prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV intermittent explosive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(6), 669–678.
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
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