He could have been the hero of the 2022 Academy Awards. Instead, he was the villain.
I’m not against anger. It serves an important purpose in our lives. It helps us stand up to injustice and slander. But like all our negative emotions, it works more efficiently when we can manage its intensity.
When anger isn’t managed early, it can go in either of two ways: It can slowly affects one’s health, career and relationships or, it can result in wildly inappropriate behavior, like Will Smith’s violent slap.
Either way, an angry person always suffers from it the most and is often trapped by its relentless intensity. Having seen the video of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, I imagined his anger had been seething for quite a while before the comedian's words sparked his shocking violence.
Will Smith could have walked up to that stage and created a sea of support and understanding to protect his wife in her struggle with Alopecia.
Unfortunately, he can’t undo what he did. The video will be viewed ad nauseam. He’ll regret his outburst for years. I suspect the social and professional consequences will be more severe as the days and months go by. His tears of regret upon receiving the best actor award were understandable.
It is embarrassing, shameful and an exposure of his deepest worst self.
But anger does not define him. It is simply an emotion. Unfortunately, Smith will struggle to redefine his public image for the rest of his career and maybe his life.
As a society, we haven’t always been taught, or been taught well, how to use our anger proactively and to step back from it. As a result, it’s often kept inside and festers. Relationships and careers suffer from its stifling negativity.
Hypnosis can teach us to more easily turn off that impulsive switch of negative energy and to access a state of perspective.
A hypnotherapist can help a client feel safe and calm while stepping back and easily changing the mind’s learned response to anger. The person can learn to turn it into the positive change they are trying to achieve.
If you would like to know more about hypnosis for the management of anger, or any other aspect of hypnotherapy, please drop me a line at Ellen at hypnosisinhongkong.com or WhatsApp my office at 66488381