Behaviour Support
Evidence-based, person-centred strategies for preventing, de-escalating, and responding to challenging behaviours.
Understanding Behaviour
Prevention First
Safe Response
Sustaining Change
Why It Matters
Without effective behaviour support, staff safety, service user dignity, and organisational stability can all be at risk.
01
Safety
Escalations put staff and service users in danger.
02
Dignity
Poor responses can cause trauma and mistrust.
03
Retention
High-stress incidents drive staff turnover and burnout.
Skills That Work
Insight
Recognise the function and triggers of challenging behaviours.
Prevention
Build proactive strategies to reduce escalation risk.
Response
Apply safe, trauma-informed de-escalation techniques.
Improvement
Embed behaviour support into daily practice.
Course Outline & Goals
Develop the awareness, judgement, and practical skills needed to prevent, manage, and survive high-risk lone working situations
Course Title
Positive Behaviour Support: Understanding, Preventing, and Responding to Challenging Behaviour
Course Aim
To equip professionals with the knowledge, understanding, and practical skills needed to prevent, de-escalate, and respond to challenging behaviours using person-centered, trauma-informed approaches that maintain dignity while ensuring safety for all involved.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will:
Know:
- The legal and ethical frameworks governing behaviour support, including duty of care and human rights considerations
- The Seven Phases of Crisis model (Kaplan-Wheeler) and intervention strategies appropriate to each phase
- The principles of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and the functions of challenging behaviour
- The components of effective ABC (Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence) analysis
- The Non-Escalation, De-Escalation and Crisis Mangement framework for conflict management
- The SCARF model and its application to understanding threat responses
- Safe systems of work for behavioural interventions in various settings
Understand:
- How behaviour serves as communication and the importance of asking “What is this person trying to tell us?”
- The impact of trauma on behaviour and the principles of trauma-responsive care
- The relationship between quality of life improvements and reduction in challenging behaviours
- How environmental factors, staff approaches, and communication styles can trigger or prevent escalation
- The importance of seeing situations from the service user’s perspective
- How power imbalances and institutional practices can contribute to challenging behaviours
- The difference between reactive strategies and proactive, preventative approaches
- The connection between staff wellbeing and effective behaviour support
Be able to do:
- Apply the “Three Essential PBS Questions” when analyzing challenging situations
- Conduct thorough ABC analyses to identify patterns and functions of behaviour
- Develop person-centered behaviour support plans that address underlying needs
- Implement appropriate de-escalation techniques during each phase of crisis
- Apply the Non-Escalation, De-Escalation and Crisis Mangement for conflict prevention and management, including:
- Active listening with all senses
- Using appropriate non-verbal and para-verbal communication
- Implementing effective redirection techniques
- Maintaining appropriate proxemics and personal space
- Applying the “one voice” principle during crisis situations
- Create individualised prevention strategies based on motivational, ecological, and mediator analyses
- Respond to early warning signs to prevent escalation
- Execute appropriate tertiary strategies when prevention has failed
Course Duration
- Full-day (6 hours): Comprehensive behaviour support training
- Half-day (3 hours): PBS fundamentals with focus on prevention and de-escalation
- Two-day (12 hours): Advanced program including physical intervention techniques (when appropriate)
Target Audience
- Support workers and care staff in health and social care settings
- Educational professionals working with challenging behaviour
- Mental health practitioners
- Residential care staff
- Any professionals supporting individuals with complex behavioural needs
Learning Methodologies
- Case-based learning using the “Game Time” scenario to develop empathy and understanding
- Role-playing of common workplace scenarios to practice de-escalation skills
- Analysis of real-world ABC charts and development of behaviour support plans
- Video analysis of crisis situations with guided reflection
- Small group activities applying the Seven Phases model to actual workplace challenges
- Skill-building exercises for conflict prevention and management
- Reflective practice sessions to connect theory with personal experience
Tailoring and Relevance
Training is specifically designed based on your organisation’s unique needs through a comprehensive Training Needs Analysis. Content is tailored to address the specific challenges faced by your staff and the individuals they support, with customised scenarios relevant to your setting.
Legal and Medical Review
All physical techniques and intervention strategies have undergone rigorous risk assessment for both practicality and safety, with attention to potential impacts on both staff and service users. The training aligns with relevant legal frameworks and best practice guidelines.
Trainer Qualifications and Credibility
Delivered by experienced professionals with expertise in PBS, conflict management, and crisis prevention. Our trainers have practical experience in behaviour support implementation and maintain current certification in relevant methodologies.
Resources Provided
Participants receive comprehensive reference materials including:
- ABC analysis templates and guidance
- Behaviour support plan frameworks
- Crisis prevention checklists
- De-escalation strategy cards
- Reflective practice guides
- Access to ongoing support resources
Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
Course effectiveness is measured through:
- Pre and post-training knowledge assessments
- Practical skill demonstration during training
- Follow-up evaluation of implementation in the workplace
- Data collection on incident reduction and prevention successes
- Regular review of behaviour support plans created post-training
Reinforcement and Ongoing Learning
The course includes strategies for maintaining skills through practice and reflection, with optional follow-up coaching sessions to ensure sustained application of techniques. Organisations can access refresher modules focused on specific aspects of behaviour support.
This behaviour support training is built on the understanding that all behaviour is communication and that effective support requires a balance of proactive strategies and appropriate responses. The person-centred approach ensures that participants develop practical skills they can immediately apply in their work environments, resulting in improved outcomes for both service users and staff.
Course Title
Advanced Strategies in De-escalation: A Masterclass for Challenging Situations
Course Aim
To equip staff working in acute, intensive care, and emergency department environments with advanced knowledge, understanding, and practical skills to effectively manage challenging situations involving people with acute mental health difficulties, using trauma-informed approaches that preserve dignity while ensuring safety.
Course Duration
2 days
Target Audience
Healthcare professionals working in PICU, acute, and emergency department settings who may encounter people with acute mental health difficulties, including nurses, support workers, security personnel, and clinical staff.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will:
Know:
- The Seven Phases of Crisis (Kaplan Wheeler) and how they manifest in acute mental health situations.
- Legal frameworks including duty of care, necessity, and proportionality in healthcare settings.
- Risk factors and warning signs specific to escalating behaviours in people with acute mental health difficulties.
- Gateway behaviours that indicate potential escalation.
- Trauma-informed approaches and their evidence base.
- The relevant aspects of the Human Rights Act as they apply to healthcare interventions.
- The SCARF Model and its application in managing distressed individuals.
- The proper response protocols when called to disturbances in healthcare settings.
Understand:
- The principles of trauma-informed care and person-centred approaches for patients with acute mental health difficulties.
- The importance of staff wellbeing and emotional equilibrium when managing challenging situations.
- The difference between conflict and crisis behaviours in patients with mental health difficulties.
- The ethical considerations in avoiding coercion and blanket restrictions in acute care environments.
- How trauma affects a person’s behaviour and responses during crisis situations.
- The difference between emergency and planned interventions in mental health care settings.
- How to recognise when team members may need assistance to remain professional.
- Decision-making processes under pressure in high-stakes healthcare encounters.
Be able to:
- Identify early warning signs and gateway behaviours to prevent escalation.
- Apply advanced de-escalation and non-escalation techniques in complex situations.
- Use trauma-informed and person-centred approaches to defuse risk and preserve dignity.
- Communicate and coordinate effectively as a team during incidents.
- Reflect on incidents using structured tools for personal and organisational growth.
- Maintain emotional equilibrium and support wellbeing for both staff and patients.
- Take appropriate action when verbal methods fail, knowing legal and safety boundaries.
- Approach and engage persons with cognitive difficulties using the five-step crisis intervention pathway.
- Implement the “First Responder Philosophy” for proper incident management.
- Intervene ethically when professionally difficult situations arise within the team.
Learning Methodologies
The course utilises a variety of teaching methods including classroom instruction, practical role-play, realistic scenario-based practice, and hands-on skills development. Participants will engage with lived experience experts and practise in contexts specifically designed to reflect the unique challenges of acute, intensive care, and emergency department environments. The SCENA approach (Scenario, Coaching, Engagement, Non-linear learning, and Assessment) ensures transfer of skills to real-world operations through progressively complex scenario practice.
Tailoring and Relevance:
This training is specifically designed and tailored to the unique roles, tasks, and problems faced by healthcare staff working in high-pressure environments with patients experiencing acute mental health difficulties. Scenarios and examples are drawn from PICU, acute care, and emergency department settings, including situations involving bereavement, delirium, psychosis, and trauma. The course addresses specific challenges such as managing patients who may be highly distressed, paranoid, or experiencing psychotic episodes.
Legal and Medical Review:
All content is tactically effective, legally correct, and medically safe, with specific attention to the particular risks and considerations present when working with people experiencing acute mental health difficulties in healthcare environments. Training includes awareness of risks of sudden death proximal to restraint and emphasises the importance of maintaining safety while respecting human rights.
Trainer Qualifications and Credibility:
The course is delivered by expert facilitators from Dynamis and Vistelar with decades of experience in conflict management, trauma-informed practice, and advanced de-escalation, trusted by NHS Trusts and other leading healthcare organisations. Our trainers have demonstrated expertise in brain injury, empathic communication, and the physiology of threat response.
Resources Provided:
Participants receive comprehensive course materials, reference guides for post-training implementation, and access to ongoing support resources to reinforce learning after the course. Takeaway tools include pocket reference cards, access to short reinforcement videos, and brief team-based exercises that can be implemented in the workplace.
Monitoring and Evaluation Plan:
The effectiveness of the training is measured through participant satisfaction surveys, pre and post-course knowledge assessments, and follow-up evaluation of incident rates and staff confidence levels in the workplace. Success will be measured by improved patient experience, reduced incidents, decreased staff injuries, and enhanced staff confidence and morale.
Reinforcement and Ongoing Learning:
Learning is reinforced through structured debriefing tools, team reflection practices, and ongoing support resources that help maintain skills and prevent complacency over time. A programme of sustainment ensures both short-term impact and ongoing sustained improvement in your healthcare environments, with champions identified to help embed the learning within teams.
Course Title
Positive Handling: Evidence-Based Training to Keep Everyone Safe in Your School Setting
Course Aim
To equip school staff with the knowledge, understanding, and practical skills needed to manage challenging behaviors effectively and safely, creating a culture of dignity and respect where physical intervention is used only as a last resort.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will:
Know:
- The context and legal basis of Positive Handling in schools, including Human Rights Act considerations
- The Seven Phases of Crisis (Kaplan Wheeler) and the SCARF Model
- Brain-based approaches to understanding trauma, ACEs, and challenging behaviors
- Legal frameworks including duty of care, necessity, and proportionality
- Risk factors and warning signs in physical interventions
- Health and Safety and Manual Handling guidelines relevant to high-risk incidents with children
Understand:
- The core principle that every person should be treated with dignity and respect
- How staff Duty of Care should influence decision-making in managing incidents
- The difference between emergency and planned interventions
- The ethical considerations in avoiding coercion and blanket restrictions
- When it may be appropriate or necessary to hold a child, and when it may NOT be appropriate
- How to minimize risks when physical interventions are used
- The importance of staff wellbeing and emotional equilibrium during challenging situations
Be able to do:
- Apply effective non-escalation and de-escalation techniques
- Demonstrate safe physical intervention skills, including prompting, escorting, and holds
- Execute personal safety and breakaway techniques
- Carry out and record safer holding procedures with children to create safety
- Clearly articulate the rationale for different interventions
- Apply good-practice guidance to common high-risk incidents
- Describe the legal and ethical implications of using restrictive intervention
Course Duration
- Full-day (6 hours): Best for less experienced or less confident teams managing extreme behaviors
- Half-day (3 hours): Supported by pre-course online learning (90 mins), ideal for time-pressed schools
- Double-session day: AM and PM groups for larger rollouts (up to 32 learners total)
- Customized options available based on specific needs
Target Audience
- Teaching staff in mainstream primary and secondary schools
- Staff in special educational needs settings
- Early years practitioners
- Alternative provision staff
- Learning support assistants
- School leadership teams
Learning Methodologies
- Scenario-driven training using the SCENA approach (research-informed and evidence-based)
- Practical role-play of common school scenarios
- Interactive discussions and problem-solving
- Physical skills practice in a supportive environment
- Video case studies and analysis
Tailoring and Relevance
This training is specifically designed for YOUR staff working with YOUR children who present with behaviors of concern. The course is customized based on a Training Needs Analysis to address your school’s unique environment, whether Early Years, Mainstream Primary, SEN contexts, Secondary Schools, or other educational settings.
Legal and Medical Review
All training content is tactically effective, legally correct, and medically safe, supported by our legal and medical audits. The physical intervention techniques taught have been reviewed to ensure they would withstand scrutiny in legal proceedings.
Trainer Qualifications and Credibility
Dynamis trainers are all full-time, qualified, and insured professionals who hold recognized qualifications in Adult Education and Level 3 Qualifications in Physical Intervention. We are accredited for quality assurance with the Institute of Conflict Management (ICM) and hold a 5-star ‘Safety Without Compromise’ rating.
Resources Provided
- Training Needs Analysis documentation
- Review and feedback on your Positive Handling Policy
- Access to a “Resources” folder with instructional videos, templates, case-law samples, and other tools
- Ongoing telephone support from our training team for staff safety queries
Monitoring and Evaluation
Course effectiveness is measured through participant feedback, skill demonstration, and follow-up support to ensure implementation in the school environment.
Reinforcement and Ongoing Learning
Government guidance recommends refresher training every 12 months. We provide resources and support to maintain skills and prevent complacency between formal training sessions.
This comprehensive course description follows the expanded KUD model guidelines from your updated document, providing clear learning outcomes and the additional contextual information needed to fully understand the training’s purpose, methods, and value.
Course title
Safe Caring with Older People
Course Aim:
To equip care staff with the knowledge, understanding, and practical skills to safely support older people experiencing distress that may be amplified by the effects of dementia, using person-centered approaches that maintain dignity and respect.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, participants will:
Know:
- The relevant articles of the Human Rights Act that apply to care for older people with dementia.
- The Seven Phases of Crisis (Kaplan Wheeler) and how they manifest uniquely in dementia care settings.
- Legal frameworks including duty of care, necessity, and proportionality when supporting distressed older people.
- Risk factors and warning signs specific to dementia-related distress behaviors.
- Health and safety implications when working closely with older people experiencing cognitive challenges.
Understand:
- The principles of trauma-informed care and person-centered approaches specific to dementia care.
- The importance of staff wellbeing and emotional equilibrium when supporting people with dementia.
- The difference between emergency and planned interventions in dementia care contexts.
- The ethical considerations in avoiding coercion and blanket restrictions with vulnerable older people.
- How cognitive impairment affects communication, comprehension, and emotional regulation in older people.
Be able to do:
- Apply effective non-escalation and de-escalation techniques specifically tailored for older people with dementia.
- Demonstrate safe physical intervention skills, including prompting, escorting, and gentle guiding approaches.
- Execute personal safety and breakaway techniques appropriate for working with older people.
- Clearly articulate the rationale for different interventions and describe the legal and ethical implications of using restrictive practices with older people.
- Implement the five key strategies for working with cognitive challenges: Model Calmness, Reduce Stimulation, Separate and Support, Adapt Communication, and Meet Unmet Needs.
Course Duration:
1 Full Day (6 hours of instruction)
Target Audience:
Care staff working with older people in residential, nursing, or community settings who support individuals living with dementia or other cognitive impairments.
Learning Methodologies:
This course uses a scenario-driven approach (SCENA) that incorporates:
- Classroom discussions on theoretical concepts and legal frameworks
- Practical role play exercises focusing on common challenging scenarios in dementia care
- Physical skills practice in an emotionally safe learning environment
- Video demonstrations of effective communication and safe physical approaches
- Interactive problem-solving activities based on real-world care situations
Tailoring and Relevance:
The training content is specifically designed and tailored to the unique roles, tasks, and challenges faced by staff caring for older people with dementia. Scenarios are contextual to real-life situations in care settings, making the training engaging, effective, and directly applicable to daily work. Common scenarios include supporting residents during personal care, managing territorial disputes between residents, responding to hallucinations, and addressing distressed behavior triggered by cognitive impairment.
Legal and Medical Review:
All physical intervention techniques taught have been specifically adapted for older people with consideration of age-related physical vulnerabilities such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular conditions, and medication effects. The training content is tactically effective, legally correct, and medically safe, designed to withstand scrutiny in legal proceedings. Techniques emphasize the least restrictive approach possible while maintaining dignity and safety.
Trainer Qualifications and Credibility:
Dynamis trainers have extensive experience in adult social care settings, with specific expertise in dementia care. All trainers are certified under the Institute of Conflict Management standards and undergo continuous professional development in dementia care approaches. Dynamis has been providing specialized training for care settings since 2006, working with organizations including Balhousie Care Group, Brendoncare, AgeCare UK, and Luxury Care UK.
Resources Provided:
Participants receive:
- Comprehensive course handbooks with all key techniques and principles
- Reminder cards summarizing key de-escalation approaches and safe physical techniques
- Access to online video resources demonstrating dementia-specific communication techniques
- Documentation templates for incident recording and reflection
- Post-course support via email for scenario-specific questions
Monitoring and Evaluation Plan:
The program’s effectiveness will be measured through:
- Pre and post-course knowledge assessments
- Practical skills observation and feedback during the course
- Participant satisfaction surveys
- Follow-up assessment of incident rates and severity in the workplace
- Periodic refresher sessions to maintain skill proficiency
Reinforcement and Ongoing Learning:
Learning will be reinforced through:
- Regular team discussions of challenging situations using the framework taught
- Supervisor observation and feedback on application of techniques
- Access to refresher materials and videos
- Case study reviews at team meetings
- Scheduled refresher training to prevent skill decay and complacency
This comprehensive approach ensures that staff develop not just skills for the moment, but sustainable practices that enhance the quality of care and safety for both residents and staff over time.
Your trusted partner in delivering measurable, sustainable impact. We help you benchmark performance, identify gaps, and co-develop pathways for lasting improvements.
Our engagements combine evidence-based insights, sector expertise, and proven frameworks – to move from conflict to confidence to lasting cultural change.
Proven Impact
Our training consistently reduces incidents and increases staff confidence across care and education settings.
Incident rate
Confidence gain
Skills retention
Course rating
“This course changed how our team sees behaviour – it’s now about understanding, not just reacting.”
L. Byrne, HSE
We Support You
From assessment to follow-up, we help embed behaviour support practices that last.
How It Works
Clear, supported steps
ASSES
Identify behaviours and triggers
TRAIN
SUPPORT
Case Study – PICU project
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is this for?
Do you teach physical interventions?
How is it tailored?
Guides
Download our Behaviour Support course overview.
Contact Us
Ready to explore Positive Handling training for your staff team? Let’s talk today.