EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES WITH AGGRESSIVE & MENTALLY ILL INDIVIDUALS
Our society is becoming increasingly violent, and sadly, mentally ill individuals are not immune to this trend. With substance abuse and poverty compounding problems, agencies must become increasingly concerned to assist their employees in maintaining their own safety. Aggressive behavior often occurs with no advanced warning. It can occur in a client’s home, out on the street, or in an agency office.
Edgework offers training in a tailor made format to suit the needs of your agency. This can encompass the needs of social workers, case workers, nurses, disabled-housing staff, school personnel, mental health professionals, emergency room staff, as well as agency support staff. Each program is designed to address concerns around the types of clients you must interact with, and the types of aggression that they potentially express.
Core Program
The core program is set up in an initial consultation and offers strategies specific to the needs of the agency and its employees, as well as the type of individuals who present that agency with problematic behavior. Specific topics to be addressed can include:
- Verbal de-escalation techniques
- Basic understanding of mental illness
- Use of spacing, stance, the eyes and voice to calm an individual or establish control
- Establishing lines of communication with the mentally ill
- Balancing the demands of difficult clients with the needs of other clients
Clinical Settings
Edgework training is unique among programs concerned with aggressive individuals in its clinical orientation. Even though the focus is on aggression and violence, Edgework training will enhance one’s clinical skills.
Edgework offers training in a customized format to suit the needs of your agency, be it a mental health facility, social service provider, hospital or school. This training is presented at a level of clinical sophistication and detail tailor-made to the particular responsibilities of your staff. When staff feel secure in their skills to handle the worst situations, they achieve a much more calm and relaxed, even spacious attitude towards their clients, patients or students.
Your clinical, teaching, or intervention skills will be greatly enhanced. When you feel both strong and confident, you are able to offer a powerful compassion that draws even volatile people to you in trust.
Please read FAQ on Edgework Methodology