Most people who search for help with anger frame it as an anger problem, as though the anger itself is the malfunction. In many cases, the anger is functioning exactly as intended. It is protecting the person from emotions that feel more threatening than rage. The distinction matters because it determines the direction of therapy. If anger is the problem, then the solution is anger management: techniques for controlling the response. If anger is a symptom, then the solution is understanding what the anger is protecting against, which requires a different kind of therapeutic work entirely.
Dr. David Steinbok helps patients from the Boynton Beach, Florida area determine whether their anger is a standalone issue or a surface expression of something deeper. For most adults who describe being angry all the time, the anger turns out to be symptomatic. His psychodynamic approach addresses the underlying emotional material that the anger is guarding, which is why the work often produces changes in the anger even though anger reduction is not the explicit focus.
