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Everyone experiences moments of anger and frustration; it’s a natural reaction when things go wrong and you’re upset. But if these moments happen often or you find yourself consumed with rage, then you may want to read anger management books to help you better manage your emotions.
Are you ready to improve yourself and get ahold of your anger and rage? Read on for our recommendations of the best anger management books!
Best Anger Management Books to Read in 2021
1. Anger: Taming a Powerful Emotion by Gary Chapman
This anger management book by Gary Chapman is an excellent resource to help you better understand yourself. With this book, you’ll get insight into why you get angry and provide you with the tools to overcome your anger.
This book offers real-life examples that you can easily relate to so that you too can make the necessary changes to manage your anger and improve your life.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
2. Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-Outs, and Triggers by Faith Harper
Unfuck Your Brain is one of the best anger management books that offers insights and solutions with humour, relatability, and some good ol’ swear words.
Don’t be fooled by its title or tone!
With her years of knowledge and expertise, Dr Harper educates you about the neuroscience behind emotions like anger and anxiety and offers solutions on how to retrain your brain to overcome trauma triggers that lead to these emotions.
For something fun and laugh-out-loud but still super educational, this book can’t be beaten!
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3. Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh
For a more zen, compassionate approach, check out this top anger management book by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. His advice and insight can help you transform your anger into a more productive emotion with tools such as meditation and the practice of empathy.
The advice in this book can empower you to change your life and mend your relationships with others by helping you change the quality of your thoughts which will, in turn, change your behaviour.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
4. The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston
Here’s another book that offers a zen approach to anger management. What if you could flip your perspective in moments when you feel anger? This anger management book focuses on helping you manage circumstances that can trigger anger… in a zen way.
You’ll learn about 4 different types of anger, how to manage them, and how to be more aware of and have better control over your anger triggers.
With lots of exercises where you can put these lessons into practice, this is one of the best anger management books to have in your library!
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
5. Rage: A Step-By-Step Guide to Overcoming Explosive Anger by Ronald Potter-Efron
Rage can be a scary thing. This expression of extreme anger, explosive anger can have a negative effect not just on yourself but on others around you. It can ruin relationships, jobs, families, property.
The good news: you have the power to control your rage and change your life.
This anger management book by anger expert Ronald Potter-Efron can help understand your rage and offer some solutions to help you manage it. Learn about the 4 types of rage, what happens in your brain during a rage, and get the tools you need to manage it.
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6. The Anger Management Workbook for Women: A 5-Step Guide to Managing Your Emotions and Breaking the Cycle of Anger by Julie Catalano
Here’s another practical book on anger management that’s targeted towards women. This book will help you understand why you get angry and how you can react differently when you’re angry.
A key feature of this anger management book is the interactive content in the form of worksheets, exercises, quizzes, and other activities. By doing the exercises, you can identify your behaviour patterns, anger triggers, and assess how you react in anger.
There are loads of stories by other women who have anger issues and how they’ve used these techniques to overcome their anger. This can be super inspiring and motivating to read… remember, you’re not alone!
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
7. The Anger Trap: Free Yourself from the Frustrations That Sabotage Your Life by Les Carter
Anger is a spectrum and while rage and extreme forms of anger are easy to identify, there are subtle expressions of anger as well. These are things that all of us experience such as being impatient, being too critical, or being nitpicky.
This anger management book examines the myths and misconceptions about anger. Is all anger unhealthy? Is anger inevitable? What are the root causes of anger? These questions (and many others!) are addressed by Dr. Carter. He also teaches you to recognize your negative behaviour patterns and how you can break out of them so that you can live a better life.
With real-life examples that highlight the change process, this book is a value resource for anger management, whether it’s a big issue or a small one.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
8. Going Off: A Black Woman’s Guide For Dealing With Anger And Stress by Noreen Palmer and Faye Childs
There’s a massive myth about the angry black woman and this myth is addressed in this great book by Palmer and Childs.
On the practical side, this anger management book offers tips and techniques to help you manage your anger. Learn about the 4 anger types, how to identify your anger triggers, how to prevent ‘going off’, and more.
The book also includes interviews and quotes from prolific writers and black women so that you can get a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of anger and black women.
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9. Beyond Anger: A Guide for Men: How to Free Yourself from the Grip of Anger and Get More Out of Life by Thomas J. Harbin
Targeted towards men, this top anger management book is written by a clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of angry men.
The fact is that men express anger quite differently from women, with men being more likely to be violent and unwilling to address their anger issues. This book is a great resource that lays out what causes chronic anger and how it impacts every facet of the angry man’s life. .
Filled with simple exercises on anger management that were specifically developed for men, you’ll learn techniques and strategies for managing anger issues.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
10. The Surprising Purpose of Anger: Beyond Anger Management: Finding the Gift by Marshall B Rosenberg
Written by Marshall B Rosenberg, this anger management book will teach you how to employ Non-Violent Communication (NVC) techniques to handle your anger issues.
According to Rosenberg, anger is not an unproductive emotion; instead, it can inform you about the disconnections that exist in your life between what you value and how you live, and also about any needs that are unmet.
Using the NVC process, you’ll learn how to assess your anger and use it to discover what’s missing in your life. You’ll also learn strategies to transform your anger into a positive force of change in your life.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
11. Mindfulness for Anger Management: Transformative Skills for Overcoming Anger and Managing Powerful Emotions by Stephen Dansiger
Want to employ mindfulness techniques to manage your anger? This is the book for you!
This anger management book offers concrete steps and strategies on how to use mindfulness to control anger issues. You’ll learn techniques you can use in different areas of life, be it the workplace, home, or relationships with others.
There’s an awesome mix of evidence-based therapeutic methods and spiritual practices in this book. By reading it, you’ll gain self-reflective skills that allow you to handle anger in a more productive way and improve your life and relationships with others.
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12. The Pathways to Peace: Anger Management Workbook by William Fleeman
While this workbook is an accompaniment to Pathways to Peace, a self-help anger management course, it still stands well as a standalone book that you can do without the course.
Filled with personal stories and self-reflective questions, this anger management book will help you uncover your anger patterns and triggers, discover ways to manage it, change any violent behaviour, and help you maintain a non-violent mindset.
This is one of the best anger management books as it is a great tool for guided self-reflection on anger issues and can help you learn the skills needed to live an anger-free life.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
13. Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion by Carol Tavris
This must-read anger management book tackles the common myths about anger, giving you new insights on this emotion and how best to deal with it.
Here, you’ll learn about both the positive and negative aspects of anger as well as ways to manage anger be it yours or others. The book also talks about common anger scenarios and provides some advice and solutions and how to deal with those specific circumstances.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
14. Letting Go of Anger: The Eleven Most Common Anger Styles & What to Do About Them by Ronald Potter-Efron and Patricia Potter-Efron
Written by the husband-wife team of Ronald and Patricia Potter-Efron, this anger management book is a practical guide to letting go of anger. Here, you’ll discover the 11 common anger styles and healthy ways to express your anger.
Different anger styles work better in different situations, and there are ways to use anger styles in a productive way instead of letting the negativity just blow up in your face. How can you break away from harsh anger styles that hurt and cause negative consequences? Can you use anger in a positive way to transform your life? Learn these skills and more in this useful guide.
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15. Transforming Anger: The Heartmath Solution for Letting Go of Rage, Frustration, and Irritation by Deborah Rozman and Doc Childre
Can you use your heart in a way that helps you manage your anger issues? This, one of the best anger management books out there, will show you the way.
Recent neuroscience studies have revealed that the heart has its own system of intelligence. You can use your heart rhythms to send signals to the brain which can then help transform negative feelings into positive ones.
You’ll discover how thoughts and feelings get stored in your nervous system, and how manipulating your heart rhythms can reset your system so that you can resist anger triggers and have the capacity to use positive ways to deal with your anger.
Intrigued? Pick up this book!
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
16. Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Laura Markham
Here’s an anger management book for parents. We get it, parenting is a tough tough job and there can be moments when we’re just at the end of our rope and we inadvertently blow up at our kids. It happens.
But if you find that your relationship and connection with your kids tend to veer more into the negative side, it’s time to address these issues and rebuild it into a positive connection.
With this book, you’ll learn how to better understand and manage your own emotions (including anger!) so that you can transform your parenting style. This book is especially helpful with parenting kids under the age of 2.
The end result? A stronger emotional connection with your children and a happier household. Win!
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
17. The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene
Parents, here’s another anger management book for your bookshelves… especially if you have a child who has problems managing their feelings.
If you have an ‘explosive child’, you’ve probably been having trouble managing their behaviour and finding ways to discipline them. In this book, you’ll learn Dr. Greene’s compassionate approach to such kids and practical advice on how to manage them in a more productive manner instead of using a reward-punishment system.
Find out more about the neuroscience behind such bad behaviour and gain coping tools so that you can improve your relationship with an explosive child.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
18. The Dance of Anger: A Woman’s Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner
Ladies, this classic book on anger management for women cannot be missed!
Women tend to minimize their anger, hide it, tamp it down, and suppress it in unhealthy ways. But anger, as an emotion, can be a helpful signal to help us understand what’s really going on in our lives.
In this engaging book, Dr. Lerner discusses the true causes of anger and teaches you to identify them so that you can use the emotion in a more constructive way. In particular, you’ll learn how you can use anger in a productive way to improve your personal relationships.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
19. Angry All the Time: An Emergency Guide to Anger Control by Ronald Potter-Efron
Here’s another one by anger expert Potter-Efron to add to your reading list.
If you find yourself consumed with anger every single day, it’s time for a change. This anger management book offers a practical system that can help you take back control of your anger… and your life.
In this top anger management book, you’ll get all the tools and information you need to manage your anger, from learning how to identify the sources of your anger, to changing your mindset, to learning how to communicate without anger.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
20. Brothers on the Mend: Guide Managing & Healing Anger in African American Men by Larry Johnson and Ernest Johnson
For an anger management book that focuses on the Black community, check out this book. In particular, it explores the unique reasons why Black men may have anger issues.
Filled with both hope and practical answers, psychologist Ernest Johnson lays out how Black men can deal with anger in a positive way and heal themselves and build strong, emotionally healthy relationships in their lives.
Be it understanding camouflaged anger, changing thought processes, or easy-to-follow techniques for managing anger, this book is a treasure trove of insight and advice for the Black community in how to deal with anger.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org
21. Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft
Anger, when not controlled, can become a form of abuse over time. If there’s an angry man in your life, how do you know if it’s something that can be resolved or if it has devolved into abuse?
This insightful book by Lundy Bancroft provides some answers into how angry men become abusive. Find out the signs you should be looking out for, what can be fixed and what can’t, and tips on how to safely get out of an angry, abusive relationship.
The information in this book can help you better understand what you’re going through and offer options if you need to leave an abusive relationship with an angry man.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
22. How to Be Angry: An Assertive Anger Expression Group Guide for Kids and Teens by Signe Whitson
Children and teens often have the most trouble expressing and dealing with anger. How can you get through to your child and impart them some skills that can help them through tough times? Check out this anger management book for kids!
This practical guide will teach your kids how to use anger in an effective way, rather than simply telling that they can’t be angry (which won’t work anyway!). They’ll pick up skills that they can use in everyday life as such using I-statements, how to disagree without fighting, how to stand up to bullies, and more.
Written in an engaging way, this anger management book for kids is suitable for those aged 5 to 18.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
23. The Anger Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Anger Management by Les Carter and Frank Minirth
Anger covers a range of feelings and behaviours, both subtle and violent. Regardless of what type of anger you experience, here’s something that can help you manage your feelings.
One of the best anger management books, it covers 13 steps that will teach you how to manage your anger. In this book, you’ll understand why you feel angry, how other negative feelings can feed in your anger, how to deal with perpetual anger, and more.
By working through the entire workbook, you’ll gain the skills and understanding you need to transform your anger and use it in a more effective way.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
24. Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron
At the base of it, anger is an expression of inner pain. Instead of simply treating the symptom, how about treating the root cause?
This book by Buddhist nun Pemo Chodron offers an compassionate approach to getting to the root of who you are and working on healing your inner pain. Built around 59 traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims, Chodron shares her advice on self-love, self-acceptance, and getting deeper into your heart and mind.
Open your heart, heal your pain, and perhaps you’ll find the path to what you’re truly yearning for.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
25. Anger Management: A Simple Guide to Managing Life’s Expectations by Mark Stricklin
For most of us, we tend to get angry despite our best intentions… and it’s something that we should learn how to deal with.
Check out another one of our recommendations for the best anger management books. Here, Stricklin discusses what makes us angry, how to manage angry feelings, and how to deal with angry people. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to completely eliminate anger and so having anger control skills is invaluable for anyone and everyone.
Full of practical advice and the author’s own personal experiences, this book is a must-read on anger management.
Get More Details: Bookshop.org | Amazon
There you have it: 25 of the best anger management books you should read in 2021!
PS: Click here to view this entire booklist on Bookshop.org!
More Anger Management Resources
- Anger Issues: Your Ultimate Guide to Anger Management
- Hypnosis for Anger: Your Guide to Hypnotherapy for Anger Management
- Best Anger Management Games to Help You Control Anger
- Anger Management Worksheets
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