  Coping with Anger
Anger and frustration are common responses to stressful, scary, distressing or annoying situations and, where present, are often cause more harm than good. Within the health care setting, it is important that patients and health professionals are sufficiently assisted in identifying, understanding and resolving situations involving anger so that the environment is as beneficial and productive as possible.
This fast fact sheet would be useful to clinical staff as well as patients - anyone struggling to deal with anger, or likely to encounter future situations where anger is a likely response.
Issues included in the fast fact sheet:
- What triggers anger?
- How is anger expressed?
- Should anger be avoided?
- How should it be resolved?
This fact sheet is sourced from Ausmed Publications' textbook: 'Psychosocial Care of Cancer Patients: A health professional's guide to what to say and do', editors Dr Jemma Gilchrist & Dr Katharine Hodgkinson, (2008) chapter four: 'How to build relationships with good communication', author Phyllis Butow& Dr Jemma Gilchrist.
Author: Phyllis Butow
Phyllis Butow has worked for over 20 years in the area of psycho-oncology and has developed an international reputation in this and the area of health communication. She is currently professor and NHMRC principal research fellow in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She directs the Medical Psychology Research Unit and chairs the Australian Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Trials Group. She chairs the Communication Skills Advisory Group of the National Breast Cancer Centre and has taken a leading role in Australia in promoting and facilitating communication skills training for oncology health professionals. Much of her research concerns the impact of communication strategies on doctor and patient outcomes, and this has been translated into a number of communication skills modules for cancer health professionals. She has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, most of which relate to psychological issues in cancer.
Author: Dr Jemma Gilchrist
Jemma Gilchrist is a senior clinical psychologist with clinical experience in psycho-oncology. Since 1999 she has worked in two separate tertiary oncology services providing psychosocial care to adults with a wide range of cancer diagnoses as well as their families and carers. Jemma has experience in educating other health professionals on the role of psychosocial support and interventions in the oncology setting. In addition she is an honorary associate of the University of Sydney and provides clinical supervision to clinical psychology interns at master's level. She completed her doctorate in 1995 in the area of children's eyewitness memory, and has published in the areas of interviewing children about stressful events, the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and postnatal depression. She has longstanding interest in the impact and treatment of anxiety in the medically unwell.
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