Kanye West, Chris Brown And Other Celebrities Have Been Duped!

George Anderson, MSW, LCSW, CAMF

Diplomate, American Association of Anger Management Providers

Unsuspecting celebrities have been urged to enroll in “anger management rehab” by well meaning attorneys or Probation Officers who are clueless as to what an anger program should include and the training needed by the providers who offer anger management.

The American Psychological Association has fought unsuccessfully for years to get anger listed as an illness in the official Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Nervous And Mental Disorders (DSM-5). It is The Group For The Advancement Of Psychiatry that determines what is or is not listed as a mental illness.

The American Psychiatric Association maintains that anger is a normal human emotion that is a problem when it is too intense, occurs too frequently, lasts too long, leads to aggression or violence, destroys school, work or interpersonal relationships or impacts health.

Since anger is neither an illness nor an addiction, counseling, psychotherapy, rehab, or psychotropic medication is inappropriate and ineffective for teaching skills in anger management. Many substance abuse rehab centers like the two programs attended in Malibu by Chris Brown are designed to treat drug and alcohol addition. Chris Brown wasted $50,000 per month in Malibu attending sessions on relapse prevention, horse back riding, art therapy, psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, and eating gourmet meals.

The most effective intervention for anger management is Emotional Intelligence coaching for impulse control. Coaches must be trained and Certified in Emotional Intelligence Assessment as well as Emotional Intelligence coaching. EQ coaching begins with an assessment, includes a client workbook and ends after a minimum of six months of coaching with a post assessment to determine the success or lack of success of the intervention. Few rehab programs have trained providers skilled in coaching for anger management.

The Joint Commission for the accreditation of Health Care Organizations coined the phrase “disruptive behavior” to describe physicians who exhibit problems managing anger. Rather than drug rehab programs, the Joint Commission as well as The American Medical Association advocate skill enhancement in impulse control for its’ physicians who exhibit “disruptive behavior”.