Rage and Outrage:

The Judge, the Inner Child, and the Warrior Archetype

Richard Malter, Ph.D.

www.malterinstitute.org

rickmind@cableone.net

© 1997; 2005

When some people are so overtaken with intense emotion, they can sometimes “shake and tremble with rage.” They feel as if they could lose control of themselves at any moment. If that were to happen, they feel as if they would explode and could actually kill someone. Another feeling that they might experience is being so emotionally out of control that they would go crazy and would have to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. With either feeling, there is also an intense amount of anxiety that only adds to the feeling of being out of control emotionally.

Another kind of very intense emotion is the feeling of outrage at some person (s) who have done something that is so hurtful to another person that the feeling of outrage is a natural human response to an outrageous event or action. When a person feels outrage about something that has happened, it is usually experienced as a distinctly different feeling than the feeling of rage that is also accompanied by intense anxiety. With rage and anxiety, the feeling reaction is usually so intense that the person’s body cannot contain the intensity of emotion. This leads to the shaking and trembling feeling and the apprehension of losing emotional control. With outrage, there is intense emotion, but there is a fearless attitude that is a very different feeling than anxiety and panic.

Rage, accompanied by intense anxiety, is related to the inner child who carries feelings of anxiety and terror, but also anger and rage towards insensitive, punitive, and abusing adults. The rage is also an impotent child-like feeling with no way to express it safely. The intensity of the stress response associated with rage and anxiety also inflates the Judge that carries judgmental messages such as “you shouldn’t be this angry; you have no right to such angry feelings; something terrible will happen to you if you can’t control yourself; if you are so emotional, you must be crazy.” The rage and anxiety become so intense that the child’s body cannot contain the feelings; they overflow and bring on the shaking and trembling reactions.

On the other hand, outrage is associated with the mature warrior archetype. It is also associated with strong maternal and paternal feelings. This is a psychologically powerful and fearless position. Psychologically, it has a very different feeling tone experientially than child-like impotent rage and anxiety. Maternal or paternal outrage does not fuel the Judge and inflate it. As a matter of fact, this warrior type of reaction keeps the Judge at bay.

This distinction between rage and outrage related to the Judge, the inner child, and the warrior archetype can be very helpful in the counseling or therapy process and in relationships. A person can also apply it to different situations to help sort out some very intense emotional reactions that can lead to better handling of relationships at home or at work.