CPI Course

Mastering Crisis Prevention and Intervention: The Gold Standard CPI Course

If you are looking for CPI Certification the two best programs are:

Crisis Consultant Group certification — $139

Crisis Prevention Institute certification — $1,849

Crises can unexpectedly arise anytime, anywhere — especially in healthcare, education, and human services settings. Equipping staff with proper crisis intervention training and skills is essential for maintaining safety and delivering quality care. This is where the globally recognized CPI Course shines as the gold standard for evidence-based prevention and de-escalation training.

An In-Depth Look at the CPI Course

Overview

Developed by the Crisis Prevention Institute, the CPI Course focuses on providing top-tier training for managing disruptive, escalating, and aggressive behavior. Adopted worldwide across industries like healthcare, education, business, and more, the CPI Course is the foremost program for crisis intervention strategies.

The CPI Course thoroughly prepares learners in:

• Verbal de-escalation tactics
• Preventing crises before they occur
• Safely defusing volatile or violent behavior
• Appropriately using restraints and interventions when needed
• Post-crisis debriefing and support

With a balanced emphasis on communication, critical thinking, and conflict resolution, the CPI Course equips professionals with the skills to safely intervene when emotions escalate.

Evidence-Based Content

What sets the CPI Course apart is its rigorous, evidence-based content. All techniques align with relevant laws, regulations, standards, and best practices across healthcare, education, and human services. Feedback from worldwide experts ensures the curriculum integrates the latest industry research and guidelines.

Interactive, Hands-On Training

While the CPI Course teaches core knowledge via lectures and discussion, its true strength lies in immersive, skills-based training. Learners gain personalized coaching and real-world practice in verbal de-escalation, physical maneuvers, and restraint techniques to ensure competence. Certified CPI instructors provide the insight and support to build confidence in managing crises.

Communication and Empathy

At its core, the CPI Course focuses on compassionate, respectful communication. Learners are taught to demonstrate empathy, establish rapport, set clear limits, and actively listen to resolve conflict non-violently. The priority is understanding an individual’s needs and addressing them calmly. Extensive roleplaying hones these vital skills.

Personal Safety

In addition to verbal de-escalation, the CPI Course prepares professionals to protect their own safety when necessary as an absolute last resort. Physical techniques like dodging, blocking, redirection, and restraint holds aim to be non-harmful and avoid injury. Legal considerations are covered to guide appropriate decision making.

Post-Crisis Support

Unique to the CPI Course is its focus on care after a crisis ends. Learners are equipped with strategies for re-establishing rapport, conducting debriefs, arranging counseling if needed, and properly documenting incidents. This post-crisis component is framed as critical for healing and recovery.

Customizability

A key advantage of the CPI Course is customization across different environments. While the core content remains consistent, examples, roleplays, and discussions can be tailored to learners’ specific settings like schools, hospitals, or social services. This contextualization helps solidify real-world application.

Accessibility

Upon completing initial training, CPI Course Online graduates gain access to supplemental online refreshers for continued skills development. Mobile-friendly resources like videos, exercises, and reference guides make it easy to sustain expertise on-the-go.

Credentialing

Participants who successfully complete the CPI Course receive a certificate of participation. Healthcare and behavioral health facilities can pursue additional CPI credentialing tied to regulatory standards for continued compliance.

Key Participants & Industries

The CPI Course offers indispensable training to professionals across healthcare, education, human services, and more including:

Healthcare

• Nurses
• Mental Health Technicians
• Emergency Department Staff
• Security Personnel
• Social Workers

Education

• Teachers
• Counselors
• Administrators
• Paraprofessionals
• Coaches

Human Services

• Direct Support Professionals
• Group Home Staff
• Residential Advisors
• Case Managers
• Family Counselors

And many other roles where crisis prevention expertise is vital for safety.

CPI Course Content Areas

This comprehensive program thoroughly covers crisis intervention across 10 key domains:

1. Fundamentals

Introduces core principles of teamwork, leadership, assessment, and environmental management.

2. Verbal De-Escalation

Teaches essential strategies like active listening, demonstrating empathy, offering choices, and defusing volatility verbally.

3. Warning Signs

Recognizing cues preceding escalation allows for early intervention.

4. Precipitating Factors

Understanding triggers like health issues, medications, developmental disorders, trauma, and more provides insight into confrontational behavior.

5. Crisis Development Model

A framework for identifying escalation stages and appropriate staff responses.

6. Attitudes and Values

Cultivating an empathetic, person-centered mindset.

7. Decision Making

Determining suitable responses based on risk levels and context.

8. Physical Intervention

Personal safety and holding methods for last resort protection when danger is imminent.

9. Postvention and Support

Providing care and debriefing after a crisis resolution.

10. Documentation

Guidelines for proper documentation and relevant regulations.

This breadth of coverage empowers professionals to confidently manage crises and prevent violence through expertise built across core domains.

CPI Training Formats

The CPI Course is delivered through flexible training options:

In-Person Workshops

These immersive 1–2 day workshops combine lectures, discussion, roleplaying, and hands-on physical practice with a certified instructor.

Virtual Classrooms

For convenience, the CPI Course is Online delivered through live videoconferencing. Learners engage with instructors and peers in real-time digitally.

CPI Course Online Self-Paced

On-demand video lessons and demonstrations allow professionals to learn based on their schedule. Quizzes confirm comprehension.

Blended Programs

These hybrid options supplement cpi course online learning with focused in-person practice and coaching.

Train-the-Trainer

Organizations can certify internal staff to become CPI instructors through this program for sustainable, in-house training delivery.

With options from 100% cpi course online to multi-day interactive workshops, the CPI Course can adapt to diverse learning needs and work environments.

Maintaining CPI Certification

To keep CPI certification current, refresher training is required every 1–2 years depending on standards. Recertification options include:

• CPI Refresher Classroom Workshops
• CPI Course Online Refresher Courses
• Testing out of certain content if score thresholds are met

Ongoing education ensures crisis intervention skills remain sharp and align with the latest research. The CPI Course makes staying certified simple and convenient.

The Importance of CPI Training

Now more than ever, the CPI Course is critical for equipping professionals with the strategies to safely recognize, prevent, and intervene in crisis situations. As stress and emotions run high in a post-pandemic world, volatile situations are likely to increase across workplace environments. By investing in CPI training, organizations can foster cultures of safety, empathy, and de-escalation.

With its versatile delivery formats, customizability, and global reputation, the CPI Course sets the bar for evidence-based crisis response education. It provides professionals with the knowledge, techniques and confidence to effectively manage crisis moments — protecting themselves and those they serve. During times of elevated burnout and volatility, the CPI Course is an essential investment for resilient behavioral health systems.

Applying CPI Skills for Positive Outcomes

Now that we’ve covered the core components of the CPI Course, let’s discuss how implementing this training can lead to positive outcomes, especially for populations like individuals with autism.

Benefits for Autism Support Settings

With its focus on understanding behavior, communication, and providing care with compassion, the CPI Course is tremendously valuable for those supporting autistic students, patients, clients, and other individuals.

Autism presents unique challenges when it comes to processing sensory input, navigating social situations, regulating emotions, and managing change. As a result, those on the autism spectrum may experience heightened anxiety or agitation that leads to escalating behavior in times of distress.

Equipping teachers, support staff, clinicians, and direct care professionals with CPI training helps them recognize triggers, utilize verbal de-escalation strategies tailored to autism, and intervene safely when individuals are in crisis. Maintaining behavioral support plans/programs and proper use of holds or restraints when needed prevents harm.

CPI skills allow support teams to understand autism-related factors fueling confrontational behavior and address the root causes with empathy. This trauma-informed approach results in better outcomes.

Benefits of CPI Training for Autism Support:

• Recognition of escalation precursors
• Utilization of effective, autism-focused de-escalation techniques
• Increased staff confidence, judgement, and expertise in crisis response
• Reduced risk of injury for autistic individuals and staff
• Development of positive behavior support plans and correct use of physical restraints
• Trauma-informed, person-centered crisis intervention
• Improved quality of life and lower anxiety for autistic individuals

Translating CPI Skills Into Everyday Practice

While the CPI Course delivers a thorough grounding in crisis prevention principles, strategies must be appropriately translated into daily practice across settings.

For educators, paraprofessionals, and specialized instructors in school environments, this means seamlessly integrating CPI knowledge into classroom protocols, individualized education programs (IEPs), and behavior plans for autistic students. Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) should outline specific verbal interventions, physical restraint procedures if applicable, and trauma-informed response procedures tailored to the child. Proper training and credentialing of staff must be documented.

In adult residential and vocational programs for individuals with autism, CPI techniques help equip direct support professionals to recognize triggers leading to meltdowns, aggressively, wandering, and other concerning behaviors. Caregivers can utilize nonthreatening communication approaches to de-escalate crises while keeping clients safe. Vital incident reporting and debriefing practices must also follow regulatory guidelines.

Within structured treatment settings like hospitals, clinics, or mental health facilities, CPI skills allow nurses, technicians, social workers and other staff to identify escalating behaviors driven by environmental factors or internal states like anxiety, OCD, depression, etc. Staff can then select appropriate verbal interventions or physical restraint/seclusion procedures if needed to manage aggressive outbursts safely. Proper training and documentation protects both patients and providers.

The goal is creating supportive cultures where autistic individuals thrive. With dedication and practice, the powerful tools provided through CPI training can help achieve this goal across educational, vocational, treatment, and community settings.

Looking Ahead

As awareness and understanding of autism spectrum disorder continues to improve, so must our ability to provide compassionate, effective support — especially during times of escalation. The CPI Course offers the insights and techniques all providers need to see past behaviors and connect with the human needs underneath.

With its proven value across industries worldwide, this globally recognized training should be considered a best practice for those supporting autism. By giving professionals the tools to prevent, safely defuse, and learn from crisis moments, organizations can transform their culture and outcomes when serving autistic populations.