De-escalate Flashcards
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- Communication is the Key to Crisis De-Escalation
- Undivided Attention
- Be Nonjudgmental
- Focus on Feelings
- Allow Silence
- Clarify Messages
- Develop a Plan
- Use a Team Approach
- Use Positive Self-Talk
- Recognize Personal Limits
- Debrief
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- C
- U
- B
- F
- A
- C
- D
- U
- U
- R
- D
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- Comm
- UA
- BN
- FF
- AS
- CM
- DP
- UTA
- UPS
- RP
- D
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- Communication is the Key to Crisis De-Escalation
- Undivided Attention
- Be Nonjudgmental
- Focus on Feelings
- Allow Silence
- Clarify Messages
- Develop a Plan
- Use a Team Approach
- Use Positive Self-Talk
- Recognize Personal Limits
- Debrief
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- Communication
- Attention
- Nonjudgmental
- Feelings
- Silence
- Clarify
- Plan
- Team
- Self-Talk
- Limits
- Debrief
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
- Communication is the Key to Crisis De-Escalation
- Undivided Attention
- Be Nonjudgmental
- Focus on Feelings
- Allow Silence
- Clarify Messages
- Develop a Plan
- Use a Team Approach
- Use Positive Self-Talk
- Recognize Personal Limits
- Debrief
many other examples
De-escalation Tips
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
Use the strategies below to de-escalate a situation:
LOW-LINE
- Listen to —— and the person’s ——.
- Offer reflective —— to —— that you have ——what their —— are.
- Wait until the person has —— their —— and —— how they are feeling.
- Look and maintain —— to —— with the person.
- Incline your ——, to show you are —— and give you a —— posture.
- Nod to —— that you are ——and have ——.
- Express —— to show you have ——.
De-escalate
LOW-LINE
- —— what the issue is and the person’s concerns.
- —— comments to —— that you have heard what their concerns are.
- —— the person has —— their frustration and —— how they are feeling.
- —— appropriate eye —– to —– with the person.
- —— your head ——, to show you are listening and give you a ——.
- —— confirm that you are listening and have —-.
- —— to show you have understood.
De-escalate
LOW-LINE
Listen > Offer > Wait
Look > Incline > Nod
- Listen to what the issue is and the person’s concerns.
- Offer reflective comments to show that you have heard what their concerns are.
- Wait until the person has released their frustration and explained how they are feeling.
- Look and maintain appropriate eye contact to connect with the person.
- Incline your head slightly, to show you are listening and give you a non-threating posture.
- Nod to confirm that you are listening and have understood.
Express empathy to show you have understood.
De-escalation Tips 1
Communication is the Key to Crisis De-Escalation
How does an officer make the decision about how to treat that individual? Of course, the answer is communication: talking to the person and evaluating the responses. But what if the person is unable or unwilling to speak? Again, as long as the person is not a danger to themself or others, there is time. Use it to listen to what the person is saying—not only with words but also with body language and tone of voice.
CPI stresses the importance of listening with empathy and trying to understand where the person is coming from. Like other skills, empathic listening can be learned. The five keys are: give the person undivided attention; be nonjudgmental; focus on the person’s feelings, not just the facts; allow silence; and use restatement to clarify messages.
De-escalation Tips 2
Undivided Attention
Paying attention doesn’t just mean saying, “I’m listening.” It means looking at the person, making eye contact if it’s culturally appropriate, and virtually listening with the entire body. By really listening, and conveying that through body language as well as words, an officer can take away the person’s reason for escalating the situation.
De-escalation Tips 3
https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/De-escalation-Tips
Be Nonjudgmental
If someone says, “The sewers are talking to me,” an officer’s immediate reaction might be to think that the person is crazy. That reaction, especially if verbalized, will probably upset the individual even more. Even if not said aloud, that attitude may be conveyed through the officer’s body language. If someone is psychotic, she may tune into nonverbal communication much more than words. So besides paying attention to what is said, ensure that body language and tone are nonjudgmental as well. This will go a lot further in calming the individual.
De-escalation Tips 4
Focus on Feelings
Going back to the previous example, if an individual says, “The sewers are talking to me,” a feeling response might be, “That must be pretty scary,” or even, “Tell me what that feels like.” This isn’t getting into a therapist’s bailiwick, but it is using a handy therapeutic tool. Most likely it will elicit a response that is positive since the individual will know that the officer understands what’s happening.
De-escalation Tips 5
Allow Silence
If the individual doesn’t immediately answer a question, it doesn’t mean he didn’t hear you. It may mean he’s thinking about his answer, or even that he wants to make sure he’s saying the right thing.
Allow a moment of silence. If the person’s face registers confusion, then repeat the question and let the silence happen again. Just as officers are taught in basic training, another good reason for the silence is that no one likes it—and people tend to start talking when silence lengthens.
De-escalation Tips 6
Keep the lines of communication open
Clarify Messages
When a subject makes a statement, an officer may think he knows what the person means. The only way to be sure is to ask. Sometimes a question may be perceived as challenging and can make the subject defensive. So restatement is used instead.
For example, someone living on the street might say, “I don’t want to sleep here anymore.” The officer might think he knows what the person is saying, but instead of just making an assumption the officer could restate, “Oh, you’re ready to go to the shelter?”
The homeless person could say, “Yes.” Or perhaps, “No, I don’t want to sleep here anymore. I’m going to move over to Main Street where it’s safer.” In either case, the officer has shown an interest in the individual and has kept the lines of communication open.
