Empowering Frontline Workers in Times of Traumatic Stress: The eSCAPe Protocol
Overview
Live Online Training
Friday October 25, 2024
2:00-4:00pm ET
NYSED and ASWB/ACE approved for 2 CE contact hours
In today’s polarized society, maintaining civil discourse is an ever-increasing challenge. Simmering in the background are worries about existential issues that cumulatively for many become a source of traumatic stress. By traumatic stress we mean situations that are perceived as life threatening whether or not that fear is real. We are a people on edge. Seemingly insignificant matters unrelated to today’s news can explode into furious arguments or anxious avoidance of the very issues we need to resolve. When it comes to civility, too many people are “losing it” and the question has become how to help this country’s agitated, angry, anxious people (including ourselves) regain our capacity for civil discourse.
Few are more impacted by our national volatility than our frontline workers. By frontline workers we mean the people who encounter, and negotiate day to day with people requiring assistance, services or goods from public and private organizations. Most obviously, we are thinking of police officers, firefighters and EMTs. More broadly the term “frontline” includes civil servants in post offices, social security centers and motor vehicle offices who are expected to placate citizens outraged by delay or denial of what they need. Employees who interact with the public in commercial settings such as big box stores and airline counters are similarly challenged.
As a condition of employment, frontline workers are expected to remain calm and polite while trying, somehow, to defuse the fury of dissatisfied consumers. The stress can be exhausting and demoralizing for frontline workers, dismaying for bystanders who witness such encounters, and confounding for supervisors who may be unsure how to teach frontline workers the skills that can deescalate the rage or panic of traumatically stressed individuals.
This course introduces participants to a ground-breaking, innovative technique that empowers our beleaguered frontline workers to de-escalate encounters with angry or panicky consumers and restore civil discourse in public places. The approach, based on Stephen Porges’ polyvagal theory, consists of a systematic set of interventions that foster social connection, give traumatically stressed people a sense of choice and control, anticipate what will happen next, and restore pre-frontal- cortex executive functioning. Developed originally for the EMT training program at LaGuardia Community College, the approach has proved extremely effective in lowering the intensity of anger and panic experienced by emergency medical patients, their families and bystanders. EMT trainees who learned these interventions report greatly increased confidence and competence as they attempt to attend simultaneously to patients medical and psychological needs.
Equally innovative is the method by which trainees are taught to learn and remember the four interventions. Drawing on a learning strategy familiar to medical students, the team that developed this approach created a mnemonic, eSCAPe which stands for “Escape Psychological Trauma.” The four interventions, Social Connection, Choice and Control, Anticipation and Planning, are represented by the letters SCAP. The overall approach was named “The eSCAPe Protocol.” Using this simple memorization technique, the protocol is taught in conjunction with demonstration and roleplay practice. No mental health training is required. Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, the eSCAPe Protocol should become essential training for frontline workers in any organization.
This experiential course offers theoretical knowledge and a chance to practice the skills urgently needed by frontline workers and their supervisors. The course responds to the broader societal need to turn down the interpersonal volatility and intensity fueled by our current national divisions. Through demonstration and role play, participants will learn the basics of using eSCAPe and, hopefully, become inspired to encourage co-workers, clients and students to adopt this approach in their own work settings.
Learning Objectives
As a result of participating in this course, students will:
- Understand the concept of traumatic stress and its impact on interpersonal communication and social connection
- Learn the four interventions that comprise the eSCAPe Protocol and experience through role play the de-escalating power of eSCAPe.
- Develop the confidence to practice and explain eSCAPe concepts in settings where workers are likely to interact with individuals experiencing traumatic stress.
- Enhance the self-awareness required to manage challenging interactions with people experiencing traumatic stress.
Presenter
Rosemary Masters, JD, LCSW
Rosemary Masters, JD, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and Founding Director of the Trauma Studies Center at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City. With expertise in trauma treatment, she trains mental health professionals to recognize and address adult-onset PTSD and the aftermath of childhood trauma. Rosemary integrates relational insights with methods such as EMDR, IFS, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. She has consulted for HealthRight International and has trained human services workers in Uganda. Rosemary’s collaboration with LaGuardia Community College’s EMT program has led to a nationwide awareness of the eSCAPe protocol and decisions to use it by many EMT and paramedic training programs.
Cancellations and Refunds
If after registering, you determine that you can no longer attend this event, The Office of Global and Lifelong Learning will issue refunds on the following basis:
- Refund requests made on or before October 18, 2024 (by midnight): full refund
- Refund requests made on or before October 22, 2024 (by midnight): 50% refund
- Refund requests made on or after October 23, 2024: no refund
If this event is cancelled, all registrants will be fully reimbursed. To withdraw from and be reimbursed for this event, please complete the event withdrawal form.
Continuing Education Contact Hours
NYSED and ASWB/ACE approved for 2 Continuing Education Contact Hours.
New York University Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers {#SW-0012}.
New York University Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors {#MHC-0083}.
For Mental Health Practitioners: Please check with your state, if you are not licensed in New York, to determine if these credits will be accepted for licensing renewal.
NYU Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0126.
NYU Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts #P-0066.
55 jurisdictions accept ACE-approved provider CE contact hours. ACE is not an approved Continuing Education provider in the states of New York (though NYU Silver is NYSED CE approved in NYS) and West Virginia, unless the event is outside of West VA. ACE only approves individual courses in New Jersey, though NYU Silver is CSWE-accredited and therefore accepted for licensed NJ professionals. Here is a full list of statutes related to social work CE.
Special Accommodations and Grievance Policy
Special Accommodations:
Students requiring accommodations have the opportunity to make these known upon registering or by writing to silver.continuingeducation@nyu.edu.
Addressing Grievances:
For information on our grievance and complaint procedures, contact 212.998.9099 or silver.continuingeducation@nyu.edu.
Note on Accessibility:
It is a priority to make our events inclusive and accessible. For any questions or to notify us of a request, please email silver.continuingeducation@nyu.edu at least 72 hours before the event.
Contact Us
NYU Silver School of Social Work
Office of Global and Lifelong Learning
285 Mercer Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003
Email: silver.continuingeducation@nyu.edu
Phone: 212.998.5973
Fax: 212.995.4497