Short Fuse: Anger-Rage-Aggression Outpatient Psychotherapeutic Group Concept For Men With Aggressive Behavior

Various mental illnesses, such as personality disorders, are associated with a risk of violent behavior; however, this risk is rarely addressed by specific psychotherapeutic interventions. Instead, in the psychiatric setting aggressive and impulsive patients are often isolated and admitted to closed wards. This can even promote aggressive behavior, e.g. by stigmatization and stirring up fears. In addition, aggressive behavior often leads to short-term disciplinary dismissals or conflictual escalations in everyday ward life. All in all, there is a gap in mental healthcare in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. There is a lack of specific psychotherapeutic services that help patients to improve strategies for coping with aggressive behavior. One group of patients where this gap in care is evident are men with personality disorders. A group psychotherapeutic concept has been developed especially for these patients, which is presented here: the anger-rage-aggression group (AeWA). The concept focuses on male patients with impulse control disorders. It addresses core emotional and developmental psychological needs and teaches a variety of cognitive, behavioral and emotion-focused techniques. These are designed to promote functional emotion regulation and thus also to reduce the occurrence of aggressive behavior with its associated risk for delinquency.