It is difficult to predict exactly how you might respond during a crisis. Yet, as a human service provider, you face challenging behaviour and potentially dangerous situations every day. How you respond greatly determines the safety of everyone involved and profoundly impacts the relationships with those in your care. Are you prepared?

The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention ® program, developed by the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), not only teaches staff to respond effectively to the warning signs that someone is beginning to lose control, but also addresses how staff can deal with their own stress, anxieties, and emotions when confronted with these challenging situations.

You can learn how to take control of an out-of-control situation.

Any type of crisis incident, from a verbal outburst to physical aggression, is an unsettling experience for everyone involved. Human service providers who are responsible for the safety of others as well as their own staff are especially likely to feel frightened, confused, and worst of all, wondering: “What could I have done to prevent this from happening?” In fact, staff’s own attitudes, fears, and anxieties can greatly influence whether a crisis is prevented or further escalates.

You’ll feel calm and confident—instead of fearful and confused.

Of course, not every incident can be prevented. However, many situations can be defused early on if staff have the proper training and learn how to respond productively during crisis moments. The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® program not only teaches staff to respond effectively to the warning signs that someone is beginning to lose control, but also addresses how staff can deal with their own stress, anxieties, and emotions when confronted with these challenging situations.

You’ll learn how to promote safety and dignity—always.

The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training program is a holistic behaviour management system based on the philosophy of providing the best Care, Welfare, Safety, and SecuritySM for staff and those in their care, even during the most violent moments. The program focuses on preventing disruptive behaviour by communicating with individuals respectfully and with concern for their well-being. The program teaches physical interventions only as a last resort, when an individual presents an imminent danger to self or others. All physical interventions taught are designed to be non-harmful, non-invasive, and to maintain the individual’s dignity. Follow-up debriefing strategies are also key components of the training program.

Regulation, legislation, and litigation—we understand your issues.

As the worldwide leader in behaviour management training, CPI is committed to staying abreast of the issues impacting human service professionals around the world. We recognize the challenges you face in providing services and care in difficult situations. Through Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training, you’ll learn practical skills and techniques that directly apply to the challenges you face and that focus on your greatest concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions from Human Service Professionals

Q. Who should attend this training program?
A. This program is relevant to anyone who might have to deal with agitated, angry, or potentially dangerous individuals. Whether you deal with clients, customers, co-workers, or visitors who can be occasionally confrontational, or if angry outbursts are an everyday occurrence, this training program is invaluable to help maintain a safe, respectful environment.

Q. We’ve never had a violent episode. Why should we be concerned now?
A. Fortunately, most organizations won’t experience a truly violent incident. But every organization has to deal with individuals who may become angry, agitated, or hostile. The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® program will give you the skills to deal with these situations confidently in order to prevent them from escalating into violence.

Q. Our facility doesn’t want employees intervening if someone becomes violent. How can CPI’s training program help?
A. Even if your facility’s policies prohibit interaction with a violent individual, it’s critical that you have the skills to deal with the dangerous period between when the incident erupts and when security professionals arrive on the scene. This training will show staff how to maintain the highest level of safety for everyone until professional assistance arrives.

Q. How does CPI’s program address individuals with special needs?
A. The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® program was designed to apply to all individuals, regardless of behaviour disorder, cognitive range, verbal ability, or other special need. The program emphasizes the importance of understanding all factors that can contribute to challenging behaviour and the most effective means to safely intervene in each unique situation.

Laying the foundation of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training.

The One-Day Introductory Seminar is a succinct one-day session that provides the basics of the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training program through lectures, demonstrations, role-playing exercises, and group discussions.

The emphasis of this seminar is on early intervention and nonphysical methods of preventing or managing disruptive and aggressive behaviour. CPI’s Personal Safety Techniques are also demonstrated and practiced during the seminar in order to teach participants the safest way to remove themselves and others from a potentially dangerous situation.

Each participant receives a Participant Workbook and a Certificate of Participation.

During the One-Day Introductory Seminar, you will learn:

• How to identify behaviours that could lead to a crisis.
• How to most effectively respond to each type of behaviour in order to prevent a situation from escalating.
• How to use verbal and nonverbal techniques to defuse hostile behaviour and resolve a crisis before it becomes violent.
• How to cope with your own fear and anxiety.
• How to use CPI’s Principles of Personal Safety to avoid injury to yourself and others if behaviour becomes physical.

The Two-Day Comprehensive Workshop is an intensive, interactive session that expands on the information presented during the One-Day Introductory Seminar and explores the most pertinent issues in far greater detail. Participants are also given the opportunity to learn safe, non-harmful restraint and transport techniques and team crisis intervention strategies.

By the conclusion of the Two-Day Comprehensive Workshop, participants should have the skills necessary to handle virtually any violent incident with minimum anxiety and maximum confidence.

Each participant receives a Participant Workbook and a Certificate of Participation.

During the Two-Day Comprehensive Workshop, you will learn:

• When it is appropriate to physically intervene.
• How to develop team intervention strategies and techniques.
• How to assess the physical and psychological well-being of those involved in a crisis.
• How to safely and effectively control and transport an individual.
• How to maintain rapport with the acting-out individual.
• Key steps for debriefing after a crisis.
• How to properly document an incident.