Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® training focuses on prevention and offers proven strategies for safely defusing anxious, hostile, or violent behavior at the earliest possible stage. The emphasis of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® training is on preventive techniques and verbal de-escalation; however, safe, non-harmful control techniques are also taught. Participants will learn to organize their thinking about how behavior escalates and how to respond appropriately during moments of chaos. Just knowing that there are safe options, builds staff confidences. This leads to fewer disruptive incidents because more behavior is defused before it becomes physical.  With a core philosophy of providing for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security^SM of everyone involved in a crisis situation, the program’s proven strategies give human service providers and educators the skills to safely and effectively respond to anxious, hostile, or violent behavior while balancing the responsibilities of care. 

The emphasis of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® training is on using physical restraint only as a last resort. If schools are prohibited from using physical restraint or if physical restraint would be inappropriate, the Certified Instructor may omit those techniques from the program. The strong focus on verbal de-escalation techniques minimizes the need for physical interventions to further support a “hands-off” policy