Breaking Point

This exercise allows participants to practice dealing with agitated and upset individuals without judgement, such as when someone is responding to stress that's unrelated to the current interaction. Being able to recognize when someone's seemingly disproportionate energy (when they're close to a breaking point) is related to other events is helpful for deescalation. One way to initiate this drill is to act as the agitated individual without giving participants any warning to see how they react. The goal for participants is to avoid further agitation.