De-Escalation: It All Begins with Awareness and Mindfulness

Recently, Starr Commonwealth has received many questions regarding techniques for de-escalating dysregulated behavior. Before any of us can control our fight or flight responses, we must be able to bring awareness to our present moment.

Present moment awareness discharges activations due to fight/flight responses, and brings energy to shutdown. Activities to bring an individual’s awareness to the here and now is the first step to restoring their sense of safety and connection. Practicing present moment awareness on a regular basis leads to more experiences of the vagus nerve/social engagement network being activated, rather than experiences of shut down/fight/flight.