Brianne Layden, PhD

Dr. Brianne Layden obtained BA, MA, and PhD degrees in psychology at Simon Fraser University. She worked with the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission of British Columbia, Canada, as a psychology assistant, and with the DBT Centre of Vancouver as a clinical extern from 2012 to 2016. She also worked as a Forensic Psychology Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Medical School from 2017 to 2018.

In this position, she was responsible for conducting violence risk assessments and evaluations of criminal responsibility, competence to stand trial and need for psychiatric hospitalization. She currently works as a Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc., and is the associate editor of Intelligence, an e-newsletter that keeps professionals up to date about recent advances in threat assessment around the globe through knowledge and experiences shared by leading experts.

Her expertise involves the assessment and management of self-directed violence and personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, and intersecting risks (e.g., general and self-directed violence). She has provided training workshops and invited presentations for forensic mental health, law enforcement, corrections, security, victim services and higher education, and has co-authored over 50 articles and conference presentations. She is currently in the process of developing structured professional judgment tools for the assessment and management of self-directed violence for adults and youth.