De-escalation skills & challenging behaviour

Date(s): 24 September 2026

Times: 9.15 arrivals for 9.30 - 4.30

Venue: In-person. All courses take place at accessible venues in Bristol

Course overview:

A practical stepped approach to containing and responding safely and confidently to incidents in the workplace. Understand what’s behind the behaviour and develop essential communication techniques and practical strategies to build confidence to de-escalate conflict situations and challenging and aggressive behaviour.

Aim(s):

To develop confidence, understanding and skills for de-escalating situations and dealing with challenging behaviour in work related settings.

Objectives

By the end of the course participants will have had opportunities to:

Increase their understanding of challenging and aggressive behaviour, its causes and context
Explore what happens in conflict and when situations escalate
Reflect upon their personal responses to conflict and escalation
Develop skills and strategies to prevent and de-escalate conflict, challenging & aggressive behaviour

Maximum group size: 16

Course full

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Your trainer(s)

Susan Lawrence

Susan is a creative trainer, group and reflective practice facilitator with over 30 years’ experience. Susan’s work is influenced by her previous varied roles in the Voluntary and Community Sector, Social Work and Dramatherapy, and from her current work facilitating & training in trauma based, reflective practice clinical support groups. Susan is qualified in Youth & Community Work, Social Work, Creative Supervision, Adult Education and Dramatherapy.

Susan offers a responsive approach that helps people feel at ease. Key threads within her courses are authentic communication, developing confidence and empowerment work for individuals and the communities they work within. Susan uses inclusive and creative methods to maximise learning, enjoyment and skills development.

What people say

"Being given tools, names of tools to use and the language to express what challenges there are and how to approach them. Perfectly delivered, trainer made sure we kept to time and allowed plenty of discussion, humour and very informative. Thanks Susan!"

Customer Support Coordinator, Places for People, April 2024

"All exercises were useful - good mix of role play, reflections, techniques spotting etc. Trainer modelled techniques for good communication and good boundary setting all the way through. Pace was great. Lots of practical tips for staying regulated and maintaining a calm environment. Well facilitated, really enjoyable and lots to take back to my work."

Assessment & Triage, Bristol Law Centre, April 2024

"Very useful. The interactive elements were great. A chance to reflect and apply models in engaging activities. I liked the metaphors and examples. Well delivered. Thank you!"

Long COVID Peer Support Coordinator, Brigstowe Project, February 2023

"Informative and easy to understand. Clear explanations and being given definitions for experiences I could not explain before. I enjoyed being able to practice skills and felt included with the training."

Primary Care Worker, Developing Health & Independence (DHI), February 2023

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