Tracey Naughton

Tracey Naughton, Hofstra
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Tracey Naughton, Hofstra

Doctoral student Tracey Naughton is looking for people to take part in her study on driving anger, which can lead to aggressive behavior.She's offering a free treatment study to help people cope with their intense emotions.Reach her at 516-463-5660, traceynp1@yahoo.com or on the Web at www.roadragetherapy.blogspot.com
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Drivers who feel intense anger potentially pose a danger to others and to themselves, said Tracey Naughton, a Nyack resident who is working toward her doctorate degree in psychology, and has been studying anger for years.

Though road rage is a term popularized by the media and law enforcement, Naughton said driving anger occurs far more often.

"Anger can be something that you might want to get help for even if it's not getting you in trouble with the law or getting you into car accidents," said Naughton, a Hofstra University student.

Naughton, 27, is looking for Rockland residents to take part in a study to help drivers deal with their anger more effectively by observing their own behavior, using relaxation techniques and learning to control their reactions.

While extreme road rage incidents get the headlines, Naughton said far more people drove angry.That stress can ruin your day, result in high blood pressure, affect personal and work relationships, and, if you make the wrong choice, lead to a ticket, a physical confrontation or a crash.

"Expressing anger has not been shown to decrease anger, it's been shown to make it worse," Naughton said Monday.

She said someone with driving anger may experience a strong emotional response and physiological arousal, such as increased heart rate, sweating, feeling hot, and muscle tension.
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Driving anger has been shown to affect men and women equally of all ages," Naughton said, but young drivers are often quicker to action.

Anger is an emotion in which people don't see it as their problem, particularly those drivers who experience it acutely.

As part of her treatment study, Naughton wants drivers to recognize what causes them to become angry, then learn how to keep cool by focusing on their response.

"You can't control other people on the road.So you have to, to a certain extent, accept that that's going to happen and control your own reaction," Naughton said.

To start off, participants will monitor their own driving behavior for at least two weeks.

Then they'll go through four treatment sessions at the New Age Center in Nyack.Those will include meditation, relaxation and other exercises.For example, Naughton might ask participants to purposely drive behind someone who is traveling slowly or driving the exact speed limit - or whatever traffic situation really annoys them - to see how well they fare.

Once that's done, drivers will once again observe their behavior to see if there's any difference.

Naughton said change might not come quickly.But instead of having a knee-jerk reaction, some drivers will have changed by becoming conscious of their anger.That tends to dissipate the emotion, Naughton said, "because they're not reinforcing it by acting out."

Doctoral student Tracey Naughton is looking for people to take part in her study on driving anger, which can lead to aggressive behavior.She's offering a free treatment study to help people cope with their intense emotions.Reach her at 516-463-5660, traceynp1@ yahoo.com or on the Web at www.roadragetherapy.blog-spot.com
...
Drivers who feel intense anger potentially pose a danger to others and to themselves, said Tracey Naughton, a Nyack resident who is working toward her doctorate degree in psychology, and has been studying anger for years.

Though road rage is a term popularized by the media and law enforcement, Naughton said driving anger occurs far more often.

"Anger can be something that you might want to get help for even if it's not getting you in trouble with the law or getting you into car accidents," said Naughton, a Hofstra University student.

Naughton, 27, is looking for Rockland residents to take part in a study to help drivers deal with their anger more effectively by observing their own behavior, using relaxation techniques and learning to control their reactions.

While extreme road rage incidents get the headlines, Naughton said far more people drove angry.That stress can ruin your day, result in high blood pressure, affect personal and work relationships, and, if you make the wrong choice, lead to a ticket, a physical confrontation or a crash.

"Expressing anger has not been shown to decrease anger, it's been shown to make it worse," Naughton said Monday.

She said someone with driving anger may experience a strong emotional response and physiological arousal, such as increased heart rate, sweating, feeling hot, and muscle tension.
...
Driving anger has been shown to affect men and women equally of all ages," Naughton said, but young drivers are often quicker to action.

Anger is an emotion in which people don't see it as their problem, particularly those drivers who experience it acutely.

As part of her treatment study, Naughton wants drivers to recognize what causes them to become angry, then learn how to keep cool by focusing on their response.

"You can't control other people on the road.So you have to, to a certain extent, accept that that's going to happen and control your own reaction," Naughton said.

To start off, participants will monitor their own driving behavior for at least two weeks.

Then they'll go through four treatment sessions at the New Age Center in Nyack.Those will include meditation, relaxation and other exercises.For example, Naughton might ask participants to purposely drive behind someone who is traveling slowly or driving the exact speed limit - or whatever traffic situation really annoys them - to see how well they fare.

Once that's done, drivers will once again observe their behavior to see if there's any difference.

Naughton said change might not come quickly.But instead of having a knee-jerk reaction, some drivers will have changed by becoming conscious of their anger.That tends to dissipate the emotion, Naughton said, "because they're not reinforcing it by acting out."