A Behaviour of Concern Is a Message the Person Can't Send Any Other Way. Is Your Team Reading It, or Just Managing It?
BILD Act certified behaviour support training, including PBS approaches, that helps your team prevent incidents before they start.
When your team can read the message early, incidents stop repeating. Over 2, 3, or 4 days at your premises, we teach trauma-informed skills, including PBS approaches, that turn reactive shifts into preventative practice.
In brief, for CQC-registered managers
+ProActive Approaches delivers BILD Act (RRN) certified behaviour support training for adult social care settings. Our programmes are designed for teams supporting adults with learning disabilities, dementia, mental health needs, and complex behaviours.
Settings: Residential care, supported living, domiciliary care, dementia services, learning disability services, and mental health settings
Certification: BILD Act certified against Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards
Approach: Five specialist de-escalation toolboxes tailored to your specific population and setting
Evidence: Certified against the RRN Training Standards, which have been independently evaluated by Manchester Metropolitan University, funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing
Delivery: Delivered at your setting by our expert trainers, tailored via a Training Needs Analysis
Trusted By
Commissioned By Local Authorities
"We have spent years training teams to be trauma-informed about the people they support. Now we need to be trauma-informed about the team."
The Challenge
When Your Team Is Surviving, Not Thriving
You know the signs. One individual with complex needs. Nine incidents recorded during just seven overnight stays in a single month. Staff responding reactively, without a shared framework for understanding the function of behaviour. No consistent approach to de-escalation. Confidence eroding with every shift.
This was the reality for one Kent County Council adult short breaks service before they contacted us. It is the reality for hundreds of services across the UK right now.
- Feeling powerless when behaviours of concern escalate - and nothing they have tried makes a lasting difference
- Empathy running on empty - the emotional toll is showing in sickness, turnover, and agency costs
- Dreading work and losing the passion for a career they once loved
- Defaulting to restrictive practices because they do not know what else to do
Your team cannot help people in crisis if they are in crisis themselves. The answer is not more of the same training. It is a fundamentally different approach.
The Shift
From Surviving Each Shift To Genuinely Thriving
When your team fully understands trauma, unmet needs, and the neuroscience behind behaviour, they do not just manage situations differently - they rediscover why they chose this career. Your team transforms from reactive to proactive, from overwhelmed to confident.
Your Team Learns to Build Environments Where Crisis Rarely Happens
We teach staff to use their own regulated state to shape environments where distress rarely escalates - co-regulation as prevention, not control. This is the science of Polyvagal Theory applied to daily practice.
- Build therapeutic relationships through the PACE model (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy)
- Understand neuroception - why a person's nervous system detects threat before their conscious mind does
- Create 'felt safety' through co-regulation, reducing the need for restrictive practices
- Protect their own wellbeing using the PERMA model for resilience and preventing empathy fatigue
Our Evidence Base
Built On Proven Frameworks, Not Generic Techniques
Every module is grounded in named, evidence-based models - giving your team the language and credibility to articulate their approach to CQC inspectors, commissioners, and families.
Polyvagal Theory
Explains why behaviour happens at a neurological level - and how staff can use co-regulation to create calm.
PACE Model
Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy - a practical relational framework for every daily interaction.
Huckshorn's Six Core Strategies
The gold-standard organisational framework for reducing restraint and restrictive practices.
Attachment Theory
Understand why people are avoidant, clingy, or chaotic - and the hidden need driving each pattern.
PERMA Model
Seligman's wellbeing framework applied to staff resilience - linking team wellbeing to quality of care.
Bruce Perry's 3 R's
Regulate, Relate, Reason - the correct sequence for responding when someone is in crisis.
Therapeutic Lens
Our proprietary framework for analysing behaviour through sensory, attachment, and trauma dimensions.
Shields Against Shame
Understand aggression, withdrawal, and people-pleasing as protective responses to the fear of disconnection.
Our Method
The What, The Why, The How
Our unique 3-Step Method is built on real-world experience, empathy, and becoming a trusted person. Each step builds on the last, giving your team a complete framework.
The What
Making Sense of Behaviour
Gain a foundational and practical understanding of behaviour and unravel the complexities of supporting adults with behaviours of concern by exploring lived experiences.
- Establish a PBS approach and Human Rights-based Value Base as the foundation for practice
- Define behaviours of concern through a therapeutic lens, adopting a person-centred mindset
- Explore lived experiences (ACEs), the significant impact of trauma and unmet attachment needs
- Understand the 5 Service Accomplishments (O'Brien) and person-centred planning
The Why
From Reaction to Understanding
Delve into why behaviours occur by exploring Polyvagal Theory, neuroception, and co-regulation - the science that explains how your staff's nervous system directly influences the people they support.
- Understand Polyvagal Theory - how the autonomic nervous system drives fight, flight, and freeze responses
- Learn about neuroception: the subconscious detection of threat that triggers behaviour before conscious thought
- Explore Shields Against Shame - how aggression, withdrawal, and people-pleasing are protective responses
- Discover setting events and triggers, and the relationship between personal and environmental conditions
The How
Putting It Into Practice
Apply techniques and strategies into daily practice, providing positive experiences for the people you support so they can thrive and enjoy a better quality of life.
- Implement the PERMA model (Seligman) to promote quality of life, autonomy, and choice
- Apply the PACE model (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) in daily interactions
- Use Bruce Perry's 3 R's (Regulate, Relate, Reason) as the correct crisis response sequence
- Master setting-specific de-escalation strategies from our five specialist toolboxes
Tailored To Your Setting
Five Specialist De-Escalation Toolboxes. Not One Generic Approach.
We do not deliver a one-size-fits-all course. Your team receives de-escalation strategies specifically designed for the people they actually support - because de-escalating someone experiencing sundowning is fundamentally different from supporting someone in psychosis.
Adult Services
Residential & Supported Living
- Hurdle Help
- Proximity
- Injection of Praise
- Planned Ignoring
- Leave-It Option
Dementia
Specialist Dementia Care
- Validation Therapy
- Biographical Anchoring
- Sundowning Protocols
- Therapeutic Doll Use
- Errorless Learning
Learning Disability
LD & Autism Services
- Total Communication
- Makaton & PECS
- Visual Supports
- Sensory Regulation
- Accessible Information
Mental Health
Mental Health Settings
- CBT/DBT-Informed
- Psychosis-Specific
- Dissociation Response
- Recovery-Focused
- Grounding Techniques
Verbal & Non-Verbal
Complex Communication Needs
- Count-to-8 Rule
- Non-Verbal Cue Reading
- Environmental Modification
- Sensory De-escalation
- Augmentative Communication
Every strategy adapted for the people you actually support. Your trainer will customise the toolbox selection based on your service's specific needs.
Beyond De-Escalation
What If Aggression, Withdrawal, and People-Pleasing Are All The Same Thing?
When a person lashes out, withdraws, or constantly apologises - most teams see "challenging behaviour." We teach them to see the shield against shame underneath.
Shame - the fear of disconnection and rejection - drives many of the behaviours that care staff find most difficult. Our training reveals how aggression, avoidance, and excessive compliance are all unconscious protective responses to the same underlying pain. Once your team sees this, everything changes.
Aggression
"If I push you away first, you can't reject me"
Withdrawal
"If I disappear, I can't be hurt"
People-Pleasing
"If I'm perfect, you'll keep me safe"
Refusal
"If I don't try, I can't fail"
80%
Reduction in Incidents Within 12 Months
0
Workplace Accidents
0
Days Lost to Injury
Aligned With "Positive & Proactive Care" Guidance
Verified data from a CQC-regulated adult short breaks service in Kent, commissioned through Kent County Council. 12-month review period.
Verified Case Study
From Reactive to Reflective: A 12-Month Transformation
A CQC-regulated adult short breaks service in Kent, commissioned through Kent County Council, was experiencing rising incidents linked to one individual with complex needs. Following our training, the results were sustained across every quarter.
80%
Reduction in incidents
0
Workplace accidents
0
Days lost to injury
Quarter-by-Quarter Trajectory
9 + 1
9 before training, 1 after training in same quarter
4
Reduction sustained; several stays were incident-free
2
Highest level of reflective practice observed
2
Strongest stability; multiple incident-free stays
Number of recorded incidents per quarter. Q1 bar (red) includes 9 incidents before training was delivered.
What Actually Changed
The numbers tell an important story, but the cultural shift beneath those figures is what makes the difference last.
Behaviour as Communication
Staff developed a fundamentally different understanding of why the person was dysregulated. They learned to ask what was driving the behaviour and respond accordingly.
Teaching Coping Strategies
Rather than simply containing difficult moments, staff began involving the individual in preparing personal care items, using visual timetables, and offering structured choices.
Debriefs That Drive Learning
Team debriefs shifted from administrative exercises to genuine reflective practice - analysing triggers, evaluating strategies, and agreeing consistent approaches.
A Joined-Up, Confident Team
Staff consistently used the same trauma-informed approaches, shared learning through handovers, and demonstrated a shared understanding of triggers and support needs.
Smarter Environmental Planning
The team introduced environmental changes informed by their learning - carefully planning stays to reduce overstimulation and create a more predictable, emotionally safe environment.
"Staff recognised that the behaviours were not deliberate but were communication of emotional or sensory needs."
"Staff felt safer due to having clear strategies and a comprehensive risk assessment that outlined thresholds for decision-making. Knowing what to look for, how to respond and when to escalate gave the team confidence and stability."
About ProActive Approaches
10+ Years. Thousands Of Staff. Proven Results.
Over the past 10 years, we have helped thousands of care staff to identify, understand, and respond confidently to behaviours of concern using proven strategies and techniques.
This bespoke course is your solution to easily access BILD Act (RRN) Certified behaviour support training, including PBS approaches, uniquely designed using our exclusive 3-Step Method for adult social care, supported living, and mental health settings.
Our Trainers
Created by Simon Gower, author of The Empathy Gap and a practitioner with nearly 30 years in care settings. Many of our trainers have been Registered Managers. They have managed the services, supported the people, and built the cultures you are working to create. They teach from experience, not textbooks.
- BILD & RRN certified master trainers
- 15+ years combined adult social care experience
- Active practitioners, not retired academics
- DBS enhanced checked and safeguarding trained
What Your Team Takes Home
Not Just a Course - A Complete Toolkit
The most common complaint about training is "my staff go on a course, come back, and nothing changes." Our delegates leave with practical, setting-specific resources they can use on the floor the next day.
5 De-Escalation Toolboxes
Setting-specific strategy guides for Adult Services, Dementia, Learning Disability, Mental Health, and Verbal/Non-Verbal communication.
Comprehensive Delegate Workbook
Full course workbook with theory summaries, reflection exercises, and space for personal action planning.
Attachment Theory Handout
Practical guide to recognising avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganised attachment patterns - and the hidden need behind each.
Shields Against Shame Guide
Case studies and framework for understanding aggression, withdrawal, and people-pleasing as protective responses.
Communication Differences Sheet
Reflection tool covering sensory overload, processing delays (the 'Count to 8' rule), and adapted communication strategies.
Online Academy Portal Access
Digital access to all materials, step-by-step embedding guidance, and ongoing CPD resources after the course ends.
Additional Benefits
More Than Just Training
Protect Your Organisation
Taking this course will equip your team with a legal understanding of the laws and regulations surrounding restrictive practices. This includes:
- Mental Capacity Act (2005) - restraint definitions, lawful excuses, best interest decisions
- Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) - employer duties around violence at work
- Duty of Care and Duty of Candour - legal obligations after incidents
- Low-level guiding and escorting techniques using our exclusive +ProActive Building Blocks methodology
Online Academy Portal
Your team will gain access to our online Academy Portal, where they can download all course worksheets and gain step-by-step guidance on how to embed the approach.
- Access all course materials and worksheets digitally
- Step-by-step guidance for embedding the approach in your service
- Ongoing reference resource for your team after the course
- Supports continuous professional development
How It Works
Three Simple Steps To Get Started
01
Download the Course Guide
Get the full course guide with pricing for all three levels and available dates. Or book a call to discuss which option suits your team.
02
Choose Your Course Level
Select the 2, 3, or 4-Day course based on your team's needs and budget. We deliver at your premises, so there is no disruption to rotas.
03
Your Team Starts Applying New Skills
Your staff return to work with BILD certified skills, practical toolboxes, and the confidence to make a real difference from day one.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Give Your Team the Skills They Deserve
Take the first step towards a team that feels confident, supported, and equipped to make a real difference in the lives of the people they support.
Prefer to talk now? Call 01789 653575