About the Training: Verbal De-Escalation with Difficult Individuals

Employers want to politely communicate with difficult people but also set boundaries for the safety of their employees. The landscape of work-life stresses has generated many emotions that spill over into the workplace. Concerns over social unrest, inflation, violence in schools and the workplace, have resulted in feelings of emotional distress, personal problems and anger. Sometimes these feelings of uncertainly, are displaced and directed in the form of anger, to employees in various workplace settings. This program will help employees identify potentially distressed individuals and learn verbal diffusion and conflict resolution techniques to descale these encounters.

1. The Landscape of Work-Life Stresses that Affect People

2. Orchestrating “Difficult” Conversations with Upset People

• Customer Service Considerations
• In Office / Work Environments
• The Angry / Entitled Patron
• The Emotionally Distraught Person
• In Community Settings
• Co-Workers / Contractors

3. Identifying the Potentially Aggressive Person

• Affective versus Predatory Violence
• Behavioral Indicators of the Potentially Aggressive Customer / Individual
• Pre-Attack Indicators – Verbal / Non-Verbal Cues

4. Verbal Diffusion –De-Escalation Strategies

• Stages of Conflict Resolution
• “Rules of Engagement” with Challenging and Distressed People
• ABCs of Verbal Diffusion
• Active Listening Skills
• Empathic Communications
• Setting Limits
• “Scripts” to Communicate with Upset People
• Assessing and Managing Threats
• Monitoring Your Personal Safety
• “Exit Strategies” in Unsafe Situations

This MIOSHA CET program is designed to encourage participants to understand types of violent threats and to assist employers enhance their existing health and safety program capabilities.

This program is co-sponsored by:

City of Livonia

MIOSHA CET Division

Center for Workplace Violence Prevention

Incident Management Team, Inc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trainer: Dr. Kenneth Wolf, kwolfphd@theimt.org, 248-217-1677

Dr. Kenneth Wolf has conducted Violence Prevention and Threat Assessment trainings for the United States Postal Service, UAW-General Motors, UAW- Chrysler, Eaton Corporation, Intel, DTE Energy, the United States Army, municipalities, Fortune 500 Companies, schools, Houses of

Worship and healthcare facilities.  He has assisted organizations develop Comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Programs, train Threat Assessment Teams, conduct Active Shooter Survival Training and Exercises, design Crisis Recovery Programs, through MIOSHA CET grant programs.