Who is Dr. Steve Wolf?
Dr. Steve Wolf, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY 10230), in private practice in West Los Angeles. After teaching Anger Management for five years, he was recognized as having diplomate status with the National Anger Management Association (NAMA) in 2005, which he currently holds.
He has been an innovator throughout his professional career. He co-directed New York City’s first Prison Therapeutic Community Program in Rikers Island Prison’s Psychiatric Ward in 1973 and directed Rikers’ first Therapeutic Community Drug Program for the general prison population in 1974.
He directed a Day Treatment Center in Litchfield, Connecticut, volunteered with the L.A. Sheriff’s Department to co-create Project Turnaround, an Acupuncture Detox program on L.A.’s skid row. He co-created an alternative middle school in Topanga, CA, co-authored “Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital Authentic Life” (Ballantine, 1997, translated into six languages), and developed “The Village Circle Project”: leaderless groups for self-exploration. He consulted as a Co-Occurring Disorders therapist in Los Angeles, working with men coming directly from prison, jail or the street for five years.
In 2006, he authored the “Taming Your Anger” series of English and Spanish workbooks, DVDs, C.D.’s and workshops. He recently taught the Taming Your Anger/Emotional Intelligence Method to at-risk teens and has produced a documentary film of that program.
In 2010. he founded the Wolf Training Institute, which serves as the umbrella for all the programs in development. This is where the practitioners are certified to teach and coach the Taming Your Anger, Taming Your Anxiety, and CouplezWork Programs. The Taming Your Anger Program is recognized by the National Anger Management Association.
In 2012, he produced the documentary, Remedy 4 Rage: the story of one alternative high school group and their journey into exploring their own emotions.
In 2014, he began to host the weekly “Shrink Different Radio Show” on the TFOK Network. He has interviewed celebrities and regular people who have interesting lives. The show is about people and their passions.
He maintains a therapy practice, working with adults and couples in West Los Angeles.
The latest course is about the evolving couple and was released in early 2020. There is another book dealing with emotional intelligence due in mid-2025, along with a second edition of “Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital Authentic Life”.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer coined the term ‘Emotional Intelligence’ in 1990 describing it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action”.
Salovey and Mayer also initiated a research program to develop valid measures of emotional intelligence and explore its significance. For instance, they found in one study that when a group of people saw an upsetting film, those who scored high on emotional clarity (which is the ability to identify and give a name to a mood that is being experienced) recovered more quickly. In another study, individuals who scored higher in the ability to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise others’ emotions were better able to respond flexibly to changes in their social environments and build supportive social networks.
In the 1990s Daniel Goleman became aware of Salovey and Mayer’s work, and this eventually led to his book, Emotional Intelligence. Goleman was a science writer for the New York Times, specializing in brain and behavior research. He trained as a psychologist at Harvard where he worked with David McClelland, among others. McClelland was among a growing group of researchers who were becoming concerned with how little traditional tests of cognitive intelligence told us about what it takes to be successful in life.
Goleman argued that it was not cognitive intelligence that guaranteed business success but emotional intelligence. He described emotionally intelligent people as those with four characteristics:
They were good at handling other people’s emotions (social skills)Emotions are present in everything you think, do, and say each day on the job, in your career, and throughout your life. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is how you handle yourself and others. Your EQ taps into a fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from your intellect and personality. It affects how you manage your behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results.
- They were good at understanding their own emotions (self-awareness)
- They were good at managing their emotions (self-management)
- They were empathetic to the emotional drives of other people (social awareness)
- They were good at handling other people’s emotions (social skills).
People who develop their emotional intelligence communicate more effectively, handle stress and conflict productively, are better team players, can navigate change, and also perform at a higher level.
Wolf Training Institute
1
Taming Your Anger
This was Dr. Wolf’s first program. It is designed to allow the individual to gain control over their anger and make choices in intense moments to avoid negative consequences. Dr. Wolf had become convinced that anger was often a first response because it prevented the person from feeling vulnerable.
2
Taming Your Anxiety
This was the second program he developed. Anxiety can be a precursor to other emotional challenges. By using these methods, one can achieve mastery of the anxiety; instead of being mastered by anxiety.
03
CouplezWork
Dr. Wolf believes that every relationship is comprised of three individuals—the couple and the relationship itself. This was developed because of Dr. Wolf’s belief that all relationships have a third person in them. There are the two people that make up the Couple, and the third is the relationship itself.
