Crisis Communications & De-escalation for the Front-Line Responder

Learning Objectives 

Attendees will learn many of the same skills Crisis Negotiators use to de-escalate, build rapport, and move subjects who are agitated or in crisis, towards a positive behavioural change. They will gain knowledge, concepts and techniques of crisis de-escalation, negotiation, suicide intervention and communicating with subjects suffering from mental illness and/or crisis.

Attendees will learn to use active listening skills in a way that contextualizes their experiences. It will make learners better service providers and overall better communicators. The training aids in the reduction of high-risk situations and incidents escalating towards violent outcomes. Participants will learn to communicate using empathy and a trauma informed approach, where applicable, all while employing crisis de-escalation techniques. This academic learning will conclude with a scripted job specific scenario for all students to participate.

Upon completion participants will be able to: 

·  Understand what happens physiologically and psychologically when subjects are agitated or in crisis 

·  Understand basic terminology and the signs and symptoms of common mental illnesses and specific communication strategies 

·  Implement techniques that are effective in getting the subject to think and act more rationally 

·  Know how to develop and maintain rapport 

·  Employ active listening skills to deescalate the subject and work towards lowering the intensity of the situation 

·  Understand the impact of trauma how it affects behaviour in a critical incident 

·  Move beyond basic verbal commands to actual problem-solving dialogue with persons in crisis 

·  Understand the steps needed to effect behavioural change 

·  Understand the benefits of active listening and empathetic response techniques 

·  Employ basic Crisis Negotiation techniques to communicate with a person who is threatening to harm themselves or others 

·  Understand the potential benefits of slowing things down and using time to de-escalate

Course Length 

Three eight-hour days