CBT for Anger and Parent Management Training

What the module teaches

Module 5 of the PsychoPharmRef therapy course covers two routes to reducing anger, irritability and aggression. Part A is CBT for anger, for adults and adolescents who want to manage their own anger. Part B is Parent Management Training (PMT), for caregivers of children with irritability and disruptive behavior.

• Part A, CBT for anger: assessment of the anger episode (triggers, appraisals such as hostile attribution bias, arousal, behavior and consequences); core techniques of cognitive restructuring, arousal reduction (progressive muscle relaxation, paced breathing, cued relaxation), assertiveness and problem-solving, and stress inoculation; session structure, homework and relapse prevention.
• Part B, PMT: the coercive cycle, in which a parent's giving in negatively reinforces the child's escalation; caregiver skills of positive attending and labeled praise, effective commands, consistent consequences (planned ignoring, when-then contingencies, a rewards system), time-out and privilege removal, and problem-solving with older children; parent-focused sessions with role-play, home-practice logs and fidelity monitoring.

Interactive worksheets

• Anger Log: trigger, hot thought, anger rating (0–100), body signs, what the person did and the consequence, with an episode count and average rating.
• Anger Skills: cognitive restructuring (hot thought, evidence and other explanations, balanced coping thought), arousal-reduction practice and a stress-inoculation plan.
• PMT Plan: the coercive cycle to interrupt, desired behaviors to reinforce and how, an effective-command checklist, and a consequence system.
• Goals: a SMART goal builder and Goal Attainment Scaling with a GAS T-score.
• Outcomes: a progress tracker for anger episodes or a child's target-behavior frequency, with change from baseline.

Each worksheet can be copied as plain text, and blank worksheets are available as a PDF download.

Safety and who it is for

The module is a teaching resource for supervised skill development. It asks clinicians to screen for domestic violence, abuse and safety before recommending any technique, and where aggression poses a risk, to prioritize safety planning and referral. PMT should be adapted to the family's context and should avoid harsh or shaming discipline. Key references include Novaco's anger treatment and stress-inoculation work, Kazdin's Parent Management Training (Oxford University Press), Barkley's Defiant Children, and Sukhodolsky and colleagues' reviews of behavioral interventions for irritability and aggression in youth.