Grace Under Fire: Establishing a Culture of Safety and Learning the Skills for Calming and De-escalating Aggressive Individuals
(OUTPATIENT VERSION)
For social services professionals in outpatient settings
Ellis Amdur, M.A., N.C.C., C.M.H.S.
Individuals suffering from psychiatric or substance use disorders sometimes display any one of a number of frightening behaviors: verbal outbursts, physical threats and even violence. In this comprehensive guidebook Ellis Amdur walks
professionals working in healthcare and social
services settings through a multitude of steps they
can take to keep themselves, their colleagues, and their clientele safe. Amdur covers a wide array of topics, intent on sharing his expertise with
staff in executive, management, and front line positions alike.
He first offers a macro-view, discussing how to establish a culture of safety within your office or agency. He then moves on to direct face-to-face
encounters, covering situations that may occur within a clinic or office, as well as out in the community, be it someone’s residence, on the street, or even one’s car. This includes how to handle tense situations before they deteriorate into chaos, and how to de-escalate once a crisis is in play. One cannot de-escalate another person unless one understands what can be driving their aggression. Amdur elucidates the various motivations that drive aggression and further delineates the different types of aggression that result. De-escalation tactics are specific – one learns how to instantly
recognize what mode of aggression the person is in, and then, well-trained and practiced, one can almost instantaneously shift into the correct de-escalation tactic that fits the aggression one is facing.
