Anger Thermometer: Rate Anger from 0 to 10 and Catch It Before It Boils

About this tool

An anger thermometer is a simple scale, usually 0 to 10, that a person uses to rate how angry they are right now and to map what each level looks like in their body, their thoughts and their behavior. At 0 the person is calm; at 10 they are as angry as they have ever been. The worksheet asks for the warning signs at each band and a coping step matched to it, so that the lower numbers come with a plan rather than just a label. It is one of the most widely used tools in anger management, in groups for adults, in substance use treatment, and in programs for children, and it works for the same reason in all three.

The point of the thermometer is to catch anger at 3 or 4 rather than at 8. Anger rises on a curve, and the part of the brain that weighs consequences works well at the bottom of the curve and poorly at the top. At a 3, a person can notice a clenched jaw, name the thought behind it, and choose to take a break or say something plainly. At an 8, the same person is mostly reacting, and advice about counting to ten arrives too late. Most people who struggle with anger are not short of coping skills; they are short of the early warning that would tell them when to use one. The thermometer is that early warning, written down in advance.

Building one takes three passes. First, describe the bands. Many people use 0 to 2 for calm, 3 to 4 for irritated, 5 to 6 for angry, 7 to 8 for very angry, and 9 to 10 for out of control, though the labels should be the person's own words. Second, fill in the cues at each band: body signals such as heat in the face, a tight chest, a louder voice, or a change in breathing; thoughts such as "this is unfair," "they are doing it on purpose," or "I am not going to take this"; and behaviors such as going quiet, pacing, swearing or slamming a door. Third, choose one coping step per band. The step at 3 might be a slow breath and a sentence that names the feeling. The step at 6 might be leaving the room for ten minutes. The step at 9 is almost always the same: get out, get safe, deal with it later.

The tool comes out of the cognitive behavioral tradition of anger treatment. Raymond Novaco's work in the 1970s treated anger as a response with physical, cognitive and behavioral parts that could be noticed and interrupted, and introduced the idea of rehearsing coping statements for rising provocation. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's anger management manual, used in group programs across the United States, builds its first sessions around an anger meter scored from 1 to 10 for exactly this purpose. In children's programs such as Coping Power, developed by John Lochman and Karen Wells, a thermometer with pictures helps a child learn that anger has levels and that the lower levels are the time to act. Feelings thermometers for other emotions use the same logic.

The evidence for the thermometer on its own is thin, and it is honest to say so. It is a component of multi-session cognitive behavioral anger programs, and those programs have moderate support in trials with adults and with children. No study has shown that a thermometer by itself changes behavior. What it does, reliably, is give a person and the people around them a shared language for intensity, which makes the other skills usable. A parent who hears "I am at a 6" can respond differently from a parent who hears a slammed door. A group member who can name a 4 can practice a skill in session instead of describing an explosion afterwards.

It suits adults who notice their anger only once it has gone too far, couples who argue in the same escalating pattern, people in recovery for whom anger is a relapse trigger, and parents or clinicians teaching a child to recognize rising frustration. Because it is a scale rather than a judgment, it also suits people who feel ashamed of their anger and do not want a worksheet that treats the feeling itself as the problem. Anger is information. The thermometer is about what happens to it on the way out.

If you are using it with a child, the adult does the writing and the asking. Keep the bands to three or four, use the child's own words and drawings for each one, and give the top band a color or a picture rather than a lecture. Teach the scale when everyone is calm and practice reading it on small annoyances, a lost game or a sibling in their space, so it is familiar before a big one. Then use it as a question, not a verdict: "Where are you on the thermometer?" invites a number. "You are at a 9" is an accusation. The aim is for the child to rate themselves, which takes months, and to pair the rating with one agreed step.

The common mistakes are filling it in during an argument, when the top of the scale is the only thing visible; writing vague cues such as "I get mad" instead of "my shoulders go up and I stop listening"; choosing coping steps for the high bands that only work at the low ones; and using the number as a weapon. If anger is leading to violence, property damage, threats, or trouble with the law, or if it comes with heavy drinking or drug use, a therapist who specializes in anger can run a full program and check for what is underneath, which is often anxiety, trauma or depression. Psychology.com's directory lets you search for one by specialty at no cost. The Anger Warning Signs worksheet, the Anger Cycle and the Anger Log on this site cover the surrounding steps, and Anger Coping Skills gives you the options to assign to each band.

Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW
Reviewed the band structure, the early-catch rationale, and the guidance for use with children for fidelity to cognitive behavioral anger management practice.

References

1. Novaco RW. Anger Control: The Development and Evaluation of an Experimental Treatment. Lexington Books; 1975.
2. Reilly PM, Shopshire MS. Anger Management for Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Clients: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Manual. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2019.
3. Lochman JE, Wells KC, Lenhart LA. Coping Power: Child Group Program Facilitator Guide. Oxford University Press; 2008.
4. Deffenbacher JL, McKay M. Overcoming Situational and General Anger: A Protocol for the Treatment of Anger Based on Relaxation, Cognitive Restructuring, and Coping Skills Training. New Harbinger; 2000.
5. Kassinove H, Tafrate RC. Anger Management: The Complete Treatment Guidebook for Practitioners. Impact Publishers; 2002.

Anger Thermometer FAQ