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Question: Does training staff in both de-escalation and physical intervention, as opposed to de-escalation alone, lead to an increase restraints (after staff are trained) within an organization? Answer: The idea that training staff in physical intervention will lead them to use it excessively stems from a misunderstanding of human nature and the role of empowerment. This is really a discussion about whether the personal empowerment of staff is good or bad.  In the same way that empowering students with tools for self-regulation, resilience, and positive coping skills enables them to handle difficult situations without resorting to aggression or defiance, training staff in physical intervention is not about promoting its use but about giving them confidence and preparedness to maintain safety when a truly unsafe situation arises. Safety Comes First It is only by creating a physically and emotionally safe environment that organizations and schools can offer their clients and students a foundation from which they can learn, heal or grow. Without the tools to ensure safety, teachers and staff are left vulnerable to situations that may compromise the well-being of both themselves and their students or clients. By limiting a perso…

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I've been doing this for a long time. Forty years is long enough to become jaded and cynical if you allow the negative circumstances of your professional life to overtake you. I've been way too blessed and buoyant to just sink like that. I, for one, would rather swim. Every now and then you meet someone who shows you how. Bravery takes many forms. There are the obvious physical acts of bravery we've witnessed on the battlefield and by first responders chasing felons and fires for a living. There are also acts of bravery that occur every single day in agencies and schools just like yours that go largely unnoticed. Today, I found a hero while I was training folks in Albany. I doubt I will ever forget her. She is young, pretty and all of 100 lbs. although, if you weighed her heart it would be every bit of 95 pounds and another 5 pounds of smile. Like many of you, she is a teacher who works with a population of severely disturbed and extremely violent little ones.  The school's and her  first time being trained in HWC. The first thing I noticed behind her smile were her hands, which were utterly ravaged by bites, scratches and deep gouges. Some of her wounds were as fresh as yesterday and some were scars that, that like her smile, will like…