Driver Aggression and Road Rage: Causes and Clinical Interventions
You ask about sleep. You ask about alcohol and other drugs. You ask about risk. You almost certainly do not ask how your client drives, or how they feel when they do.
Jerrod Brown’s case is that driving is one of the most demanding adaptive tasks a client performs, and it is where executive function, emotion regulation, sleep debt and trauma history all surface at once and at speed. It cuts both ways. Some clients are a genuine risk behind the wheel and nobody has asked. Others are being written off too early, and losing the ability to drive is linked to lower self-esteem, more depression and more isolation, so it is not a neutral outcome.
Two hours moving from ordinary driver stress through anxious driving and driving phobia, driver error and reduced error awareness, distracted and drowsy driving, and then into aggressive driving and road rage proper. Brown works through the neurodevelopmental and acquired conditions that change the picture, the screening tools that exist, and interventions that translate into what you are already doing, including emotional intelligence work, mentalisation, rumination protocols and mindfulness.
You’ll walk away with
- A short set of driving questions to add to your intake, covering accident history, fear behind the wheel and how the client feels when they drive
- The three forms of distraction, and why the cognitively distracted driver with both hands on the wheel is the one nobody notices
- The link between alexithymia and road rage, and why a client who cannot name an emotion may end up expressing it physically at speed
- Reduced error awareness: the client who makes the same driving mistake repeatedly, and what to rule out when you see that pattern
- What the evidence supports about ADHD, autism and traumatic brain injury behind the wheel, including where the risk is aggression and where it is confusion, and where the literature is thin
- The reason drowsy driving belongs in your sleep screening, and the sleep conditions worth ruling out
- Named screening tools for driving anger and driver behaviour, and where to find them
- A clear view of what losing a licence costs a client clinically, so it can sit properly in your formulation rather than as an aside
- Interventions that carry over from your existing work: emotional intelligence, mentalisation, internal locus of control and protocols for rumination
- Practical changes a client can make before they turn the key, from route planning and meals to which music actually lowers their stress
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Course Duration: 2 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Complex forensic cases involving neurodivergent individuals, traumatic brain injuries, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders often leave practitioners feeling overwhelmed by the intersection of mental health, neuroscience, and criminal justice issues. Jerrod Brown has spent his career developing expertise at these critical intersections, becoming one of the few professionals who can navigate the complex interplay between brain-based conditions, trauma, and forensic presentations with both scientific rigor and practical application.
As Assistant Professor and Program Director of Forensic Behavioral Health at Concordia University, and Founder/CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS), Dr. Brown represents a unique integration of academic excellence and real-world forensic expertise. His extraordinary educational background - including four separate master's degrees, a Ph.D. in Psychology, and over a dozen specialised certifications ranging from Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor to Certified Neurodiversity Professional - demonstrates his commitment to understanding human behavior from multiple scientific perspectives. His co-editorship of Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals and role as Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today reflect his leadership in advancing the field.
Dr. Brown's expertise spans forensic behavioral health, autism spectrum disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, neurocriminology, confabulation and suggestibility, trauma and resilience, and applied clinical nutrition. His approach recognises that many forensic presentations involve complex interactions between neurological conditions, trauma histories, and environmental factors that traditional psychological assessments miss. He specialises in cases where standard forensic evaluations fail to capture the full picture, particularly involving individuals with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, or conditions that affect memory and decision-making capacity.
What sets his training apart is interdisciplinary depth combined with practical application. Brown doesn't just teach from one theoretical perspective - he shows practitioners how neurological, nutritional, sleep, and trauma factors interact to create the complex presentations they encounter in forensic settings. His over 300 workshops and webinars demonstrate his exceptional ability to translate complex neuroscience into immediately applicable assessment and intervention strategies.
For your practice, expect to gain specialised knowledge in forensic neuropsychology, tools for assessing neurodivergent individuals in legal contexts, and frameworks for understanding how brain-based conditions affect criminal responsibility and treatment planning. His approach particularly benefits forensic psychologists, criminal justice professionals, or clinicians working with intellectually disabled or brain-injured populations.
Quick Win: Brown's "neurocriminology assessment framework" helps practitioners quickly identify when criminal behavior may be influenced by undiagnosed neurological conditions - often revealing mitigating factors that completely change case conceptualisation and intervention strategies.
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Psychology, Northcentral University, Scottsdale, AZ
- M.A., Counseling, Adler Graduate School, Richfield, MN
- M.S., Criminal Justice, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
- M.S., Special Studies in Forensic Studies, St. Cloud State University
- M.S., Special Studies in Cognitive Disorders, St. Cloud State University
- B.E.S., Applied Psychology and Psychology, St. Cloud State University
- Currently pursuing 5th M.S., Applied Clinical Nutrition, Northeast College of Health Sciences
Advanced Certifications & Certificates
- Post-Doctoral Certificate, Leadership and Organisational Strategy, Walden University, 2021
- Professional Certificate, Forensic Psychology, San Diego State University Global Campus, 2021
- Graduate Certificate, Neuroscience and Law, Michigan State University, current
- Graduate Certificates: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Other Health Disabilities, Traumatic Brain Injury (Hamline University)
- Graduate Certificates: Neuropsychology, Medical Biochemistry, Exercise Prescription, Dyslexia
- Diabetes Care and Education Certificate, Central Arizona College, 2023
Specialised Certifications
- Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor (CFNC)
- Certified Neurodiversity Professional
- Certified Kid's Nutrition Specialist
- Tobacco Treatment Specialist (Mayo Clinic)
- Brain Health Coach
- Certified Digestive Health Specialist
- Gut Health Specialist
- Certified Sleep Science Coach
- Integrative Adult Sleep Coach
- Holistic Health Coach
- Stress and Mindset Coach
Leadership & Teaching
- Assistant Professor & Program Director, Forensic Behavioral Health and Trauma, Resilience, and Self Care Strategies, Concordia University, St. Paul, MN
- Founder & CEO, American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS)
- Editor-in-Chief, Forensic Scholars Today (FST)
- Faculty, Walden University
- Presenter, CONCEPT Professional Training, Palo Alto University
Training & Speaking
- Over 300 workshops, webinars, and on-demand trainings conducted
- National and international speaking engagements
- Professional and student audience presentations
- Conference presentations at various organisations
Clinical Specialties
- Forensic assessments involving neurodevelopmental conditions
- Autism spectrum disorder in forensic contexts
- Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and criminal justice implications
- Traumatic brain injury and competency evaluations
- Confabulation and suggestibility in legal proceedings
- Miranda rights comprehension issues
- Youth firesetting assessment and intervention
- Criminal recidivism risk factors and prevention
Ready to develop expertise in the complex intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and criminal justice? Discover how Dr. Brown's interdisciplinary approach can enhance your ability to conduct comprehensive forensic assessments and provide effective interventions for the most challenging cases.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 2
- Topics 0
- Duration 2 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English