Leonard Ingram (Bhagwan Ra Afrika) has been doing individual and group counseling encompassing a wide spectrum of therapies for over twenty-five years.
- Mr. Ingram completed his undergraduate degree and did post graduate study in philosophy and psychology at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.
- After completing his formal studies and training in 1976, Leonard later traveled to Punjab, India where he did advanced study in Eastern Philosophy, The Psychology of Yoga and the study and practice of Meditation Sciences under the expert guidance of several Masters of one India’s highest spiritual traditions.
- Upon his return to Chicago, Leonard received additional training in Adlerian Anger Therapy. In addition to a large private practice, Leonard is also a consultant for the Chicago Board of Education and has conducted hundreds of training workshops for teachers, parents, students, guidance counselors, school psychologists, principals and other education professionals.
- He has also conducted numerous training workshops for The Chicago Police Department, The Chicago Dept.of Workplace Violence,The Illinois Department Of Corrections, The Federal Work release Program, numerous Colleges and Universities across the country and various local Churches, Hospitals and Mental Healthcare Agencies.
- Over the years, Mr. Ingram has become recognized by many as a leading “Guru” and expert on anger management theory and practice and has been featured in the PBS documentary The Children are Watching, CBS Sunday Morning, and over twenty (20) local TV and Radio programs in Chicago.
- Mr. Ingram is sought after by Newspaper journalists from all over the country and has been featured in numerous articles on Anger and Violence including major magazines such as Vogue, Redbook,People, Confidante, etc.
Angermgmt.Com Online Counseling Services was launched in 1997. Mr. Ingram’s purpose for creating the Angermgmt.com website is to make information on anger management available online and thus, provide millions of people suffering from anger related disorders to better understand and cope with Anger. Leonard’s goal was to fill a void left by most therapists and psychologists who are reluctant to recognize and investigate the “major” role that anger plays in many of their patients’ neuroses and other mental problems. The point of view of many human development professionals is that “anger” is not the basis of most of their clients’ emotional problems and “biologize” their condition. Anger, because of it volatility, intensity and destructive potential was most often side stepped by clinicians and, as a rule, the client’s anger is either medicated out of existence, denied or, in most cases, “condemned”. Their clients are made to feel even worse for having this horrible, “bad” emotion of anger in the first place! These conventional strategies do not usually lead to any positive changes in the client’s “social behavior” or aid them in fulfilling the essential tasks of life (i.e., love, earning a livelihood, maintaining friendships and so on). The problem is not anger, the problem is the “mis-management” of anger.
Anger is not “bad” at all. Unrelieved anger is often the primary issue which motivates clients to seek professional and clinical relief from their mental and emotional discomfort in the first place. In Leonard’s view, the problem is not so much the clients’ “anger” as it is the fact that people have never been “taught” how to manage their anger appropriately. In the absence of appropriate anger management training, people will – by default – solve their anger problems the wrong way (i.e., revenge, suppression, etc.) and they become even more conflicted, stressed and full of mental tension. Their anger and rage is often suppressed until the individual can’t stand it anymore and simply explodes or “implodes”. Our stored up anger usually compels us to act in ways that are self-destructive to ourselves and detrimental to other people we are in relationships with. And ultimately, the anger then erupts into domestic violence, divorce, child abuse, suicide, homicide and in some extreme cases, mass murder! It became apparent to Leonard that one of the antidotes to the epidemic levels of violence and crime in our society is to teach as many people as possible how to mamage their anger energy and manage it in constructive, productive and psychologically healthy ways. He soon discovered that when people are shown how to manage their anger appropriately, their stormy and violent, non-gratifying and mutually destructive relationships turned around and became a source of happiness in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Workshops
The Anger Institute of Chicago conducts training on:
- Anger Management
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Philosophical Analysis
- and a whole spectrum of related topics.
Mr. Ingram is currently working on the development of a comprehensive and unified mental treatment model encompassing Western, Eastern and African approaches towards mental health care. Leonard also instructs a small, selected group of students in Ancient African spiritual science (Sat Ma’at). Mr. Ingram resides in Illinois and is available for lectures, workshops or private consultation upon request.
To contact Leonard Ingram
Call 773-343-8538 or e-mail leonard@angermgmt.comWant to hear audio samples of Leonard speaking?
