Anger

Anger therapy in Northbrook, IL

Bedrock Psychology Group offers individual therapy for adults with chronic anger and emotional reactivity. We use CBT to interrupt the patterns that escalate anger and psychodynamic work to address what's underneath it. Sessions are in person at our Northbrook office or by telehealth across Illinois, and in PSYPACT states with select clinicians. We're in-network with BCBS PPO and Aetna. To start, call (773) 389-2352 or send us a message.

What is anger?

Anger is a normal human emotion. Chronic anger, explosive reactivity, or patterns of rage that damage relationships and functioning are something else. In clinical contexts, anger issues usually reflect underlying conditions — depression, anxiety, trauma, chronic stress — for which anger has become the primary outlet.

Anger as a presenting concern tends to be the effect, not the cause. Addressing it effectively means understanding what's driving it: what the anger is protecting, what it's communicating, and why it's become the default response.

Signs and symptoms

Explosive reactions that feel out of proportion to the trigger. A short fuse that others have noticed even if you've minimized it. Regret after outbursts — saying or doing things you didn't intend. Chronic low-level irritability or tension. Difficulty letting go of perceived slights or injustices. Anger that shows up specifically in close relationships — with partners, children, or family — and not elsewhere. A sense that your anger is affecting the people you love in ways you don't want it to.

How this affects your life

Anger patterns tend to have an asymmetric cost — they're most damaging to the people closest to you. Partners absorb the reactivity. Children are affected in ways that shape their development. Professional relationships suffer when emotional regulation is inconsistent.

There's also a significant internal cost. Chronic anger is exhausting. The physiological arousal it produces takes a toll. And the secondary shame — about what you said or did — often becomes its own source of distress.

Our approach at Bedrock

Anger treatment at Bedrock doesn't mean anger management in the class-and-workbook sense. It means understanding the structure of your anger: what triggers it, what it's protecting, what it costs, and how to interrupt the cycle before it causes damage. CBT is useful for identifying the cognitive patterns that accelerate anger. Psychodynamic work is often necessary to address what's underneath — the hurt, the fear, the accumulated grievance that anger is standing in for.