Dear Alexandria:

Good thinking on your part! It takes thinking and coming up with a plan abut how to minimize anger (not interacting with certain people, including certain family members!), limiting alcohol and whatever else it takes. There are books and workbooks about dealing with anger/ managing anger, resolving conflicts, effective communication/ interpersonal skills- these are available in libraries and book stores. I bet there are online resources as well. It will be very worthwhile to utilize such (inexpensive or free) resources.

My former therapist taught me this principle regarding effective interpersonal skills: use EAR which stands for Empathy, Assertiveness and Respect. (Assertiveness itself is a very, very useful skill).

anita