Anger Can Help: Clinical Representation of Three Pathways of Anger
Keywords
view of self in relation to other, VSIRO, emotion, anger, trauma
Abstract
Anger is a powerful emotion prevalent in therapy. An integrative model situating varied manifestations of anger within a purposive context of healing and repair following relationship trauma is needed. A first paper (Butler, Meloy-Miller, Seedall, & Dicus, 2017) approached anger as a psychological and relational construction of diffuse physiological arousal and provided a conceptual model of how the experience of offense interacts with a person's view of self in relation to other (VSIRO) in the formation of anger. Three resulting trajectories and pathways of anger were outlined. Here we provide clinical representations of these pathways—two pathways of hostile anger arising from pathogenic VSIROs (inflated, with accompanying externalizing anger, and collapsed, with accompanying internalizing anger), and a third pathway of benevolent anger, arising from a balanced VSIRO. Clinical application of the model through several vignettes illuminates its use in discriminating helpful from harmful pathways of anger and developing interventions for reshaping pathogenic anger to beneficent anger.
Original Publication Citation
Meloy-Miller, K. C.*, Butler, M. H.*, Seedall, R. B., & Spencer, T. J. (2018). Anger can help: Clinical representation of three pathways of anger. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 46(1), 44-66.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Meloy-Miller, Kieara C.; Butler, Mark H.; Seedall, Ryan B.; and Spencer, Travis J., "Anger Can Help: Clinical Representation of Three Pathways of Anger" (2018). Faculty Publications. 4472.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/4472
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2018-03-06
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7280
Publisher
The American Journal of Family Therapy
Language
English
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Family Life
Copyright Status
© 2018 Taylor & Francis
Copyright Use Information
http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/