Promoting Positive Behaviour & De-escalation Skills (with Playfulness from PACE) (2/5) (Zoom)

This is the second instalment of our five-part PACE for Professionals training programme. Participants must complete the PACE Mindset (Module One) before attending this course, as it builds directly on the relational foundations and shared understanding established in the first module.

Challenging behaviour in children and young people is rarely just "bad behaviour"; it is a powerful form of communication driven by trauma, distress, or unmet emotional needs. Designed using evidence-based PACE principles, this transformative course equips professionals and caregivers with the relational tools needed to defuse crisis, understand underlying triggers, and build genuine emotional safety.

Learn how to use playfulness not as silliness or avoidance, but as a deliberate, warm therapeutic stance that lowers threat, reduces shame, and restores calm, even in high-stress situations.

Key Learning Outcomes

• Master the PACE Mindset: Understand how to strategically deploy Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy across all stages of distress.
• Decode the Root Causes of Behaviour: Use Functional Analysis (ABC recording & scatter graphing) to identify triggers and the underlying functions of challenging behaviour.
• De-escalate with Confidence: Recognise early physiological signs of anger and apply active calming, defusion, and TIPP sensory tools before reaching a crisis point.
• Connection Before Correction: Learn Dan Hughes’ "Two Hands of Caring" framework to maintain clear boundaries without damaging relational security.
• Practitioner Self-Regulation: Master S.O.B.E.R. and self-calming strategies to remain regulated, calm, and professionally grounded under pressure.
• Accountable Practice: Enhance evidence-based skills and high-quality recording methods that demonstrate safe, trauma-informed practice.

Why Choose This Course?

• Grounded in Proven Neurobiology: Built upon leading trauma and attachment theories, incorporating insights from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Bruce Perry, and Dr. Ross Greene.
• Relational, Non-Restrictive Focus: Prioritises proactive, relationship-first interventions that drastically reduce the need for physical restraints or punitive measures.
• Practical & Actionable Toolkit: Walk away with ready-to-use strategies like the "Name It to Tame It" response, the PALMS de-escalation technique, and structured Behaviour Support Plans.
• Caregiver Self-Care Included: Addresses compassion fatigue directly by giving practitioners the tools to manage their own nervous systems while supporting others.

Programme structure

While this course can support positive behaviour and de-escalation skills, it is designed to be undertaken as part of the complete five-module PACE programme to ensure safe, consistent and trauma-informed application of PACE across practice.

If you are seeking training focused solely on behaviour management or de-escalation techniques, our Promoting Positive Behaviour and De-escalation course may be more appropriate.

Who this training is for

Our PACE for Professionals suite is suitable for a wide range of roles working with children and young people. Annual refreshers are recommended to support reflective practice and prevent drift under pressure.

• Social Workers: Case managers, child welfare workers, and community organisers.
• Caregivers: Residential workers, care home staff, Foster carers, adoptive parents, and kinship caregivers.
• Mental Health Professionals: Therapists, counselors & social workers.
• Educators: Also see "PACE for Schools" - Teachers, school counsellors, and special education professionals.
• Birth Parents: Use "PACE for Parents" instead. This is workforce development training. Some content may be triggering, and it will not be appropriate to address specific individual examples or development needs in front of the group.

⚠️ This is workforce development training. Some content may be emotionally challenging and is not suitable for addressing individual therapeutic needs within a group setting.

What others say

You can read feedback from professionals who have attended our training HERE.

Format, CPD & Resources

• Delivery: Live training via Zoom

• Format: Taught input, small group work, paired activities and whole-group discussion

CPD Suitability

This training is suitable for Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Participants receive a certificate of attendance and reflection prompts to support CPD recording in line with Social Work England guidance and similar professional frameworks.

• Resources: A downloadable PDF version of the course slides is included. A full resource library can be purchased separately.

Those seeking to be certified in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) or to further explore PACE in action are invited to visit the founder's website.