Rage room was 'best therapy session I've ever had'

Rage X-treme opened in Polegate in East Sussex on Friday

After a visit to a rage room Claire Seward said it was "the best therapy session I've had in the last 30 years".

Rage rooms aim to create a "safe environment for people to let out the stresses of day-to-day life" by allowing them to smash up items like old crockery and electric appliances.

Originating in Japan there are now a growing number springing up around the UK, including in Maidstone, Brighton, London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast.

Ms Seward, who visited newly-opened Rage Remedy in Margate in Kent for a birthday treat, said she "relieved herself of all unwanted emotions" in a 30-minute "smashing" session with her daughter.

She said: "The release of pent up emotions which have sat in my stomach for years was very powerful and liberating.

"It was a safe, controlled environment to give myself permission to let it go."

Rage X-treme is the most recent rage room to pop up around the UK.

It opened its doors in Polegate in East Sussex on Friday.

Claire Seward visited a rage room in Margate as a birthday treat

Kris and Kate Cutler set up the business after the death of their daughter last year from cancer as a means of "providing somewhere people can let off pent up frustrations and have fun".

Mr Cutler said: "Using the rage room has allowed us to release the rage, all the angst that we had inside.

"We want people to know that there are places you can go to let off steam," he said.

"We want to give that opportunity to other people."

Rage rooms originated in Japan but are becoming more popular across the UK

Amber Geer, who set up Rage Remedy in Margate with her mother, Teresa Smith, in October, said: "We attended a rage room ourselves and quickly realised that releasing rage was such a positive experience.

"Our premises also has a chill room which customers use afterwards to unwind and relax back into normal life.

"We are a safe environment that you can go to just to let go without being judged."

Dr Vicki Edwards, a clinical psychologist, said rage rooms could be good as a "cathartic solution to a singular event".

She said: "There is research to show that physicality can reduce stress and improve emotional regulation, but it is perhaps a temporary solution.

"In my view long term emotional management might require therapy to address underlying issues."