A Note for Professionals by Tom Letson MA LPC NCC

4 Downs to Anger Control utilizes a brief approach to anger control training for men.   The passion that many men feel for the game of football is used to help them quickly grasp the skills used to initiate change.   By using analogy, anger control training is easily understood and less threatening to some individuals. The definition and potential benefits of using analogies in therapy is superbly stated by Brian Cade and William Hudson O’Hanlon in the book, A Brief Guide to Brief Therapy:

Any time one thing is likened to another or spoken of as if it were another thing, analogy is involved.  “We seem to have reached a dead end in this discussion.”  “Your smile is like the summer sun.” Such phrases are in common use and are, in fact, so common, we

sometimes fail to recognize them as analogy.  These devices are used to cast a different light on a subject.  We know what a dead end is when we are traveling along a road, so we can understand the analogy when it is used to characterize a discussion.  We have

experienced a summer sun, so we can imagine that a smile that is likened to it would be bright.  Analogy helps us use skills and understandings from one area of our experience to approach

differently or to understand and make sense of other areas of our experience.   (p.136)

     Using football analogies is a way  “to cast a different light” on the subject of anger control. The easiest client to help is the one who is motivated to read anything the counselor suggests for improvement.  These clients do not require the most skillful and creative interventions.  The skeptical and hurried client is the real test of clinical expertise and creativity, as their ambivalence usually leaves professionals little time to help them.  Innovative therapeutic tools are needed to interest and motivate such clients. Use this book as your “ace in the hole” for clients who relate to sport’s analogies and are in need of anger control training.