Breakaway Skills Training

Escape-Focused Personal Safety for High-Risk Environments

When escalation happens quickly, staff need the confidence to disengage safely, create distance, and act within the law.

Phoenix Training & Consultancy Ltd delivers specialist breakaway skills training for professionals working in high-risk and emotionally charged environments. Our approach is trauma-informed, legally grounded, and focused on escape, not restraint.

We have delivered this training within high-risk settings including Approved Premises (Ministry of Justice), healthcare environments, and other frontline services where staff safety and proportionality are critical.

What This Course Covers

This full-day programme equips staff to:

• Recognise early signs of escalation

• Use de-escalation and boundary-setting techniques effectively

• Maintain situational awareness and reaction distance

• Disengage safely from common grabs or holds

• Create space and withdraw without escalating contact

• Apply necessary, proportionate and reasonable action

• Record and report incidents professionally

• Reflect and recover following high-adrenaline situations

The course balances communication skills, risk awareness, and practical breakaway techniques.

Our Approach

Unlike traditional control-based training, our breakaway model is built on:

• Prevention first

• Least restrictive practice

• Trauma-informed communication

• Clear legal boundaries

• Proportional response

• Immediate withdrawal once safe

We do not teach restraint, pain compliance or containment techniques. Physical skills are taught as last-line safety measures, with a strong emphasis on distance, disengagement and professional decision-making.

Practical Skills Included

Participants will practise safe disengagement from:

• Wrist grabs

• Clothing holds

• Upper arm / forearm holds

• Hair pulls

• Simulated front and rear holds

• Punch and kick avoidance through distance and movement

All practice is coached, controlled and delivered within strict safety boundaries.

Who This Training Is For

This programme is suitable for staff working in:

• Hospitals and healthcare settings

• Mental health services

• Supported living and residential services

• Criminal justice and probation settings

• Housing and homelessness services

• Education and specialist provision

• Public-facing roles with risk of aggression

If your staff work with distress, trauma, substance misuse, or complex needs, this training provides confidence without promoting escalation.

Why Choose Phoenix?

Phoenix Training & Consultancy Ltd is a trauma-informed, safeguarding-led training provider with experience delivering across justice, health and social care systems.

Our training:

• Aligns with legal standards of necessary, proportionate and reasonable action

• Reflects Restraint Reduction Network principles

• Supports organisational duty of care

• Protects both staff and service users

• Prioritises dignity and professional accountability

We understand high-risk environments because we have worked within them.

Course Format

Full-day (7 hours inc breaks)

In Person Delivery includes:

• Interactive teaching

• Scenario-based learning

• Guided practical coaching

• Reflective discussion

• Written and practical competency checks

Outcomes for Your Organisation

Following this training, staff report:

• Increased confidence in high-risk situations

• Greater awareness of early warning signs

• Improved boundary-setting

• Safer withdrawal decisions

• Clearer understanding of proportionality

• Reduced likelihood of escalation

Most importantly, staff understand when to step away.

 Book This Training

If you would like to discuss delivery for your organisation, contact Phoenix Training & Consultancy Ltd to arrange a tailored proposal. Admin@phoenixtraining.org.uk

A short conversation is often enough to design a programme aligned with your service, risk profile and policies.