Hi there,

Does anyone know of any anger management or personal development programmes that are based on insight? My motiviation is to use insight to help people get on top of embedded patterns of violence, dishonesty or bullying. For example, prison inmates.

I realise the simple answer is - the dharma!  But does anyone know of introductory programmes around concentration and self-reflection, for people who are trapped in self-destructive cycles of behaviour? I'm trying to avoid the current 'mindfulness movement' in favour of something that draws more on dependent arising (particularly contact, feeling tone, thirst, inflaming, urges) and not-self.  I hope to identify an existing body of practice that I could work within and develop.

Thanks in advance for any discussion or pointers!

Malcolm

Not exactly what you're after but if you don't know it, Ajahn Amaro's teaching on Dependent  Origination is really helpful. He convincingly frames DO as the eplanation for cycles of addiction so think it's relevant.

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/29/Just-One-More-Ajahn-Amaro.pdf

I have found Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to be useful in my own life. It is not Buddhism, but conceptually it seems quite compatible. I found it attractive because every other form of psychotherapy or self-help that I had looked into were clearly just reinforcing the knots of my self-concept that I could see were causing the problems in the first place.

There's a new book out:

https://www.amazon.com/Liberated-Mind-Pivot-Toward-Matters/dp/073521400X

Curious, there is an order of Zen Buddhism led by Roshi Bernie Glassman that is devoted to the practice of anger management and non-violence:

https://zenpeacemakers.org/

Thanks!  Really appreciate the suggestions. I will look in to them all.

I saved a link to this stuff a while ago, been meaning to investigate it fuller. It is much more anger therapy, but it might give you some ideas...

http://www.monamiller.com/angerwork.html

It's not specifically focused on just anger, but somatic experiencing and EMDR are two trauma treatment methods that both seem to make heavy use of insight methods for processing trauma-related emotions like anger, shame, and fear.  EMDR makes uses of impermanence by encouraging attention to alternate between trauma-related thoughts/feelings/images/memories and either eye movement or vibrations that rapidly change between the two sides of the body.  Somatic experiencing focuses on objectifying trauma-related body sensations like a flush of heat, tingling, tension, etc. -- but unlike choiceless awareness, the therapist will actively encourage the patient's attention to return to neutral or positive body sensations so that attention doesn't get sucked into magnifying trauma  reactions.  Somatic experiencing also includes explicitly noticing and communicationg the vedana of some sensations.

Not sure it's 100% applicable to front-line anger management, but I'd guess a lot of people with anger issues have a trauma history.