How Do I Get Anger Management Certification?

If you would like to earn anger management certification, you typically must complete prescribed coursework mandated by an agency in your area. In the United States, the National Anger Management Association (NAMA) is the governing body overseeing the process of anger management certification. Typically, a four-year college degree is required of anyone wishing to obtain anger management certification. Coursework in the anger field, internships in anger therapy and counseling are also often required to become certified as an anger management counselor in most areas.

You can typically achieve anger management certification by completing a certain amount of college-level, anger management training courses. A four-year or bachelor's degree from an accredited school or program is commonly required if you want to receive anger management certification. Coursework in understanding anger, anger management techniques and anger management coping skills and concepts are typical components of an anger management program. Other coursework concentrates on the healthy role of anger in a relationship, triggers and causes of anger as well as the role of consequences in anger management. Once the classroom portion of the certification training is completed, the actual hands-on work begins with an internship under a certified anger management counselor who will oversee all of your efforts and training.

The internship component of anger management certification consists of counseling sessions and classroom education sessions with clients suffering from anger issues. The ability to control a group counseling session with actual clients is a skill that must be demonstrated under the supervision of a certified instructor. A large component in becoming an anger management counselor consists of preparing case notes and reports covering the clients' progress or lack thereof. Many anger management clients are mandated by a judicial system to undergo anger management counseling. Therefore, status reports regarding clients are often presented to the courts and can weigh heavily in determining an offender's fate.

You may wish to work with adults or children, with each having a dedicated certification requirement. Children require special training in order to learn to build a rapport with the young client and gain trust in the counseling sessions. You will be required by most certification programs to foster healthy methods of anger expression in children's anger management sessions. Understanding the healthy and unhealthy expressions of anger are a common focus in children's anger certification training. Once the internship has been completed, you will typically be allowed to operate unsupervised and allowed to use your anger management certification to lead healthy anger management counseling sessions.