How a Social Worker Uses CPI Training to Help Kids Calm Down

How do you stay calm during a crisis? How do you prepare to handle behaviors that might turn violent? As a social worker and Supervisor of Residential Services at an organization that helps children and families deal with abuse, neglect, and other serious issues, Angie Smith helps people every day who are frightened, agitated, and hurt.

Trained in CPI’s Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® program, Angie has tools for handling difficult situations—tools like verbal de-escalation skills, awareness of how her own verbal and nonverbal behavior affects the behavior of people in crisis, and more. And as a Master Level Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® Certified Instructor, Angie teaches her coworkers the CPI tools and techniques to help them do their jobs better—to make things safer and easier for themselves, safer and easier for the people in their care, and safer and easier for the families of the people in their care.

Through Angie’s efforts and those of other Certified Instructors within her organization, staff get training in the foundational Nonviolent Crisis Intervention^® program, as well as training in advanced techniques that Angie has learned through the Instructor Excellence Renewal Process that she’s been a part of throughout her nearly six years as a CPI Certified Instructor. This includes techniques for helping people on the autism spectrum and people who’ve experienced trauma, and strategies for enhancing verbal skills and relationship building.

To learn how verbal de-escalation skills can revolutionize school culture, check out our podcast interview with special education SME Karen Maladra.