Verbal Diffusion- De-Escalation with Difficult Individuals

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 de-escale these encounters.

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

2. Types of Difficult Individuals

• In Office / Work Environments
• The Entitled Patron
• The Angry Customer
• In Community Settings
• Co-Workers / Contractors

3. Situational Awareness – Identifying Confrontations

• Did You See It Coming?
• The “Fight of Flight” Reaction when encountering, anger, threats or possible assaultive behaviors
• Paradigm Shift: Seeing the World Differently
• Monitoring your Own Reactions

4. Identifying the Potentially Distressed Person

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

5. 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
• Assessing and Managing Threats
• “Exit Strategies” in Unsafe Situations

This program is co-sponsored by:

City of Livonia

MIOSHA CET Division

Center for Workplace Violence Prevention

Incident Management Team, Inc.

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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.