De-escalation & Safe Handling of Aggression in the Practice Team

De-escalation in the medical practice: recognising escalation early, defusing it verbally and non-verbally, protecting yourself and providing aftercare – online professional development course for medical assistants (MFA).

Online self-study course – 9 modules, approx. 8 hours, at your own pace, with a confirmation of participation after working through all modules. Sources in APA 7 style.

The course explains how escalation develops according to Kaplan and Wheeler’s escalation curve and the three-stage model of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), how to recognise early warning signs, and how practice teams can act safely using language, body language, clear boundaries, emergency procedures, aftercare and a de-escalation concept.

This course is part of the e-learning flat rate – one year of access to all self-study courses.Unlock the flat rate →

Self-study without supervision, assignments or assessment of learning progress by instructors; the voluntary self-reflection is for your own orientation only. Your confirmation of participation becomes available once you have marked all modules as done yourself.

What this course covers

1Understanding de-escalation in everyday practice

2How escalation develops

3Recognising early warning signs & prevention

4Verbal de-escalation techniques

5Non-verbal de-escalation & body language

6Difficult conversations & special situations

7Self-protection & emergencies: when de-escalation ends

8After the escalation: aftercare, documentation & reporting channels

9De-escalation concept, legal framework & team culture

Learning objectives

What you will learn

You can explain what de-escalation is – and what it is not – and place the term, with its five components, in its professional context.

You can explain the stress response, with its fight, flight and freeze patterns, in simplified terms and give reasons why highly agitated people can barely take in arguments.

You can explain why prevention is the first level of de-escalation and what early warning signs mean in professional terms.

You can define verbal de-escalation and describe it as one component of a broader understanding of de-escalation.

You can explain why body language, gaze, voice and spatial behaviour play a part in every tense encounter, and place non-verbal de-escalation within the concept of de-escalation.

You can explain why ‘difficult’ behaviour often conceals fear, pain, grief or feeling overwhelmed, and derive a suitable basic attitude from this.

You can explain why self-protection is not a failure of de-escalation but its last and most important step, and recognise when a conversation is turning into a dangerous situation.

You can explain why de-escalation does not end once things have calmed down, and place aftercare as the third level alongside prevention and de-escalation.

9 modules

Self-study at your own pace

Confirmation of participation after working through all modules

De-escalation & Safe Handling of Aggression in the Practice Team