Preventing and De-escalating Crisis Situations

Course overview

Behavioral health professionals may encounter a client experiencing agitation or displaying hostile behavior at some point in their career. De-escalation is a set of approaches and techniques used to assist clients in self-calming to avoid incidents of harm to self, others, or property. Professionals should understand escalation and physiological responses to threats. After determining the risk of escalation, providers can use various aspects of verbal communication such as tone and pitch, and nonverbal communication skills to defuse potentially hostile situations and apply the least restrictive interventions.