Anger Management

• HeartMath is Helping With Anger Management
• Facts at a Glance
• Who Needs HeartMath Research-Based Programs?
• How HeartMath Can Help Students Manage Anger
• IHM Research Publications and Articles Relating to Anger
• IHM Products/Programs that Support Anger Management
• Funding Tips for Educators

Human beings throughout history, regardless of age and gender, have always experienced and expressed anger. It is, after all, a natural human emotion linked to our basic instinct of survival, so it is perfectly normal when students from elementary age to those in college become angry and frustrated from time to time with circumstances in their lives. When anger turns to the kind of destructive or violent behavior, however, that we hear about too frequently in our schools today, it cannot be attributed to the normal processes of human development.

For a young person, the inability to control anger can have devastating consequences that may affect the rest of his or her life. Take, for example, a hypothetical, though not unlikely scenario about a reserved eighth-grade boy who not only is still going through the hormonal and emotional changes of adolescence, but also is coping with the impending breakup of his parents. Add to that the anxiety and tension students commonly experience as they prepare to enter high school.

The boy always earned good grades, seemed happy enough and got along with everyone until the spring of his eighth-grade year, when his behavior suddenly began changing for reasons only understood later. No one who could have helped even got the chance. Friends recalled how he’d started spending more and more time alone, was cranky if they tried to kid around with him or asked how he was feeling. One day, he just snapped when his best friend and another boy he didn’t really know were passing him in the hallway at school and the other boy muttered something: Without thinking, he whirled around and before the boy or anyone had time to react he grabbed the boy from behind by a strap on his backpack and jerked him in a rage, sending him sprawling backward, hard, to the cement, and then walked off the school grounds as if nothing had happened – not learning until a few hours later the boy had died before the ambulance arrived.

It’s Tough Out There – for Children, too

We actually begin learning to control our anger at an early age, from curbing childish tantrums to playing nice with the other kids. Learning anger management continues throughout school, but in the process there are bound to be some angry episodes. After all, as we grow up, we encounter things all the time that are new, confuse us, overwhelm us and at times anger us. We want school to be fun as well as effective, but the fact is that getting an education is hard and demanding much of the time for most students, regardless of academic ability.

Today the pressure on our youth to perform well, especially on tests, is greater than ever and starts at a young age because of state-mandated testing. Studies by researchers at the Institute of HeartMath show anxiety levels often shoot way up in a high percentage of students as they approach and then take examinations, especially the sort of high-stakes tests that are so common today. We’ve gained a great deal of understanding about this phenomenon, which is known as "test anxiety," and HeartMath has found ways to help students, young and old, to overcome it and actually improve their scores.

Now, this test anxiety and the pressure to perform can and commonly does negatively impact students’ academic performance as well as their emotional behavior all the way into their final year of high school, when their track records catch up with them and determine, to a large extent, whether their futures will proceed as they’ve envisioned or they’ll have to make other plans. It’s a lot for an adult to handle, so for a teenager that was romping around a playground not so many years before, it can be especially tough.

Having families, teachers and others who care are certainly critical to students’ emotional and academic success, but IHM studies clearly demonstrate that a little intervention can go a long way toward improving their chances for happy and rewarding lives.

HeartMath is Helping With Anger Management

• Kevin Shuey is an academic instructor at the L.I.F.E. Tech Transition Center, a residential transition program in Wetumpka, Ala., for women paroled from prison and seeking to make a successful return to families, homes and jobs. Shuey said HeartMath techniques, including Quick Coherence^® and Freeze-Frame^®, and the emWave technology are used at L.I.F.E. Tech for anger management, conflict resolution and general stress management, and that TestEdge^® learning programs are helping women with test anxiety. He related the following stories from two women in the program.
  
  "Three ways I’ve used the Quick Coherence^® Technique: 1. When I am taking a test and my mind starts to wander or I start feeling stressed out. 2. When I am mad at my boyfriend or he is getting on my nerves. 3. When I am in group (counseling) and it is hard for me to stay focused. During these times I start to feel like I am losing control and weak. However, after I use the Quick Coherence Technique, I am able to concentrate, calm down and regain control of what I am doing. It works great in confrontations or taking tests."
  
  "Another resident said something very ugly to me that made me very mad. I actually wanted to act out in violence. I went to my counselor to discuss the situation. By this time, I was crying. I closed my eyes and started doing Quick Coherence. I stepped back from the problem and started focusing on how good God has been to me. Then I presented this problem to myself and a still, small voice said, ‘Treat her with kindness, love her, just be still.’ I came out of the office happy and smiling, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that if it hadn’t been for Quick Coherence. The next day, beaming after a successful session on the computer using the emWave PC/Mac, the same student said, "It’s Quick Coherence breathing that did it for me Mr. Shuey. That’s why I didn’t hit that girl yesterday."
• At Lake Worth Independent School District in Lake Worth, Texas, Dean of Students Terry McLelland said there is an anti-bullying policy and he must handle plenty of related cases each year.
  
  "When an assistant principal at one of our schools has a problem with kids bullying, I get a call and usually they get a warning from me. If they do it another time, they have to go to our alternative school for up to 30 days. Of course, those who bully have personal issues, usually anger. I focus primarily on the middle school.
  
  "Over a year’s time, I will work with around 30 middle school students, most of them boys. Some of these boys are real hard core, with bad, bad home lives. They experience a lot of violence and anger and even gang shootings in their neighborhoods. I don’t force them to get on the emWave PC/Mac, but most choose to do so. Most of them use the emWave PC/Mac about three to four times. The funny thing is that they are not that infatuated with the games. They prefer the heart-rhythm display. They like seeing their heart rhythms and the feeling of being at peace. Each session lasts around 10 minutes. It is definitely helping them with their anger issues."

Researchers with the Institute of HeartMath have been studying stress, anger, anxiety, depression and other emotions for years. That’s why, like many of today’s anger-management specialists, they understand that a key to controlling anger is developing, then practicing this ability to slow things down, to recognize the onset of anger and then step back from it to evaluate a situation, so you can defuse it before you lose it. What you’re doing is learning to understand your emotions, and we know through studies with students and many other people who practice HeartMath’s tools and techniques that when they understand how their emotions work, they adapt easily and are able to pick up anger-management skills quickly.

Who Needs HeartMath Research-Based Programs?

• Students with anger issues
• Teachers
• Student counselors
• Parents of school-age children
• All students, because studies show many aspects of students’ lives benefit when they understand how to manage anger and other emotions

How HeartMath Can Help Students Manage Anger

Students learn to manage anger successfully in two ways with HeartMath tools, techniques and technology: First, there are specific tools designed especially for reigning in anger-control problems; and second, by understanding how their emotions work, which is a core skill taught through all HeartMath programs and products. As explained earlier, understanding how emotions work is central to managing them. It is also important because it helps to show that rather than being a "bad" thing, anger is simply an emotional response, one you can transform into something else, something positive such as empathy and understanding, compassion, even love.

HeartMath also gives students practical skills like knowing when and how to slow things down with simple, easy-to-use tools that teach them to defuse emotional reactivity before it escalates into angry outbursts. As they learn about emotional and neural patterns and how to harness the power of their emotional and mental physiology with the power of their hearts, students gain confidence and inner security. By learning techniques to bring their heart rhythms into more coherence, students develop a new power – the power to choose attitudes and new perceptions that are healthier and lead to happiness.

IHM Research Publications and Articles Relating to Anger

• Transforming Anger: The HeartMath Solution for Letting Go of Rage, Frustration, and Irritation, by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman, Ph.D. "Think with your head, not with your heart" may seem like sound advice, but not so much if you understand that the heart is profoundly and literally connected to the brain. Read more about this remarkable book, which discusses the powerful intelligence of the heart as the seat of wisdom that can direct you toward what is good for you and away from what isn’t.
• The Effects of Emotions on Short-Term Power Spectrum Analysis of Heart Rate Variability, by Rollin McCraty, Mike Atkinson, William A. Tiller, Glen Rein, and Alan D. Watkins, American Journal of Cardiology. This study utilizes heart-rate-variability (HRV) analysis to examine a new method of intentionally shifting emotional states, and demonstrates that positive emotions lead to alterations in sympathovagal balance that may be beneficial in the treatment of hypertension. Anger, on the other hand, was shown to significantly increase sympathetic activation. Read the summary.
• The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger, by Glen Rein, Mike Atkinson, and Rollin McCraty, Journal of Advancement in Medicine. Salivary IgA, heart rate and mood were measured in 30 individuals before and after experiencing care or anger. Two methods of inducing the emotional states were compared: self-induction and external induction via videotapes. Anger produced a significant increase in total mood disturbance and heart rate. Read the study.

IHM Products/Programs that Support Anger Management

• Transforming Anger: This important book offers hope and practical tools. Did you know that your heart is so powerful it generates 60 times the electrical amplitude of your brain and that it can regulate your emotional reaction patterns? Adults with long histories of anger, teenagers with shifting emotional moods and hormonal changes, and children who are easily frustrated have all used the power of the heart to transform their perceptions and responses when they encounter the triggers of anger. Among the tools included in Transforming Anger is the Freeze-Frame^® Technique, which teaches you how to take a time-out and get an intuitive perspective at the precise moment you feel stressed. Go to Transforming Anger.
• HeartSmarts^® Grades 3-5: Here is a perfect – and delightful – new social and emotional intelligence curriculum that bridges academic and emotional learning. HeartSmarts teaches young students skills for managing stress, anger and frustration, improving learning and strengthening relationships that will serve them throughout their education. Teachers, parents and, best of all, children love the lessons in this program, from the core set of tools and strategies that become part of the meaningful rituals and routines in the classroom to the "habits of the heart," which improve learner readiness, motivation, behavior management and classroom climate. Go to HeartSmarts^® Grades 3-5.
• emWave^® PC/Mac Stress Relief System: HeartMath’s groundbreaking interactive learning system gives students hands-on understanding about the link between their emotions and their ability to self-regulate how they feel. This knowledge opens up the student’s awareness of the internal chaos that often underlies angry outbursts, and increases compassion for self and others. As they experience the positive feeling states that correspond to coherent heart rhythms and gain skill at shifting to these states with practice on the interactive learning system, their ability to manage anger increases. Go to emWave^® PC Stress Relief System or emWave^® Mac Stress Relief System.
• TestEdge Software: These interactive learning CDs are designed to help students understand the link between feelings and their academic performance. They learn how stress interferes with their ability to learn and enjoy life. Numerous practical, stress-reducing techniques are included in the package. Because everyday stressors are often the trigger events that lead to angry reactions, learning the skills taught in these lively programs can help with anger management. When it comes to school, among the biggest stressors for students are tests: Studies show exams, especially high-stakes tests, can cause anxiety levels to rise in a large percentage of students. The TestEdge line of science-based products were specifically designed to help students reduce test anxiety and improve scores and overall academic and personal performance. Go to TestEdge Software.
• Qualified Instructor Program: Promoting heart-based education: The first course offered under this program is the Resilient Educator^®, an engaging, activity-based, stress-management workshop for in-service staff development. The course includes techniques educators can use to boost personal performance, improve school relationships and increase resiliency, as well as tools for dealing with anger – within themselves, their students, families and others. Go to Qualified Instructor Program.