Safe De-Escalation Techniques

Violent or aggressive behavior must be calmed to secure the safety of the individual and others in the surrounding environment. When someone becomes escalated, either due to a panic attack, stress or other cause, it is important to de-escalate the individual until the person no longer appears or feels violent. During the de-escalation process, using cautious and safe techniques can keep you safe.

Calming Techniques

• As a person becomes escalated, you must attempt to calm them back down. Calming techniques include talking to the individual and practicing active and effective listening skills. Hear what the person feels, needs, wants or is thinking. Respond calmly and address the individual's concerns to try to make the person feel better. Create a calm atmosphere by keeping your voice soft and low, but direct, and not getting worked up. If the person senses that you, too, are becoming anxious or escalated, then the situation can worsen.

Re-Direction Techniques

• Redirecting someone who is escalated means giving them a task to think about, focus on and perform, which gets their mind off of the reason for their escalation. You might de-escalate a person who is becoming anxious by giving him something to color or telling him to join you for a card game. You also can redirect someone with verbal questions, such as asking the person where he learned to play basketball so well and what is his favorite food to eat. When you get to know an individual, you will learn the things that work effectively for redirecting him as well as the things that do not.

Verbal Diffusion

• Verbal diffusion is a de-escalation technique that crisis responders use when the situation has already escalated and calming and redirection attempts were unsuccessful. In verbal diffusion, the goal is to talk the individual out of carrying on aggressively or dangerously. It may be that the situation escalated to the point that the individual wants to harm herself, and through verbal diffusion the responder gives the person a list of reasons why she should not harm herself, such as what the outcome of it would be and how many people love her. Verbal diffusion should be performed calmly, so as to not aggravate the person more.

Physical Restraint

• In severe cases, physical restraint may be the only way to keep a person safe during a crisis. People who become escalated to the point of self-harm or violence toward others need immediate intervention, which may not work with other forms of de-escalation. Physical restraint must always be used as a last resort, and it must be conducted by a trained professional who knows how to properly restrain an individual without inflicting pain or harm and is trained on how to stay safe in the process. Physical restraints can help the escalated individual stay still so that the body eventually relaxes, and the mind follows.