Anger and trauma, I’ll admit, were a potent cocktail for me. If before my trauma I rarely argued afterward I was always spoiling for a fight — especially if you were a close friend or loved one. The more I trusted you the more I unleashed me full wrath upon you.

Why do we feel the anger we do? And why do we so often place and use it in inappropriate places and ways? I talked to expert, Megan Ross, to answer these questions and shed some light on how to access the positive benefits of feeling feisty.

In our conversation we covered:

• 
  
• the link between trauma and anger
  
• how sadness, loss, grief, guilt and shame factor into the anger equation
  
• the difference between constructive and deconstructive anger
  
• how likely it is that you can change your anger response
  

My fave quote from Megan:

“There’s a lot to be angry about after trauma.”

You can say that again! Grrrrr…..

Megan Ross, LPC, R-DMT, GL-CMA, Trauma Therapy Coordinator at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center.