Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist I & II: EDGE De-escalation Training ZOOM December 10-11, 2026

Train for the Moment. Earn a Credential That Lasts.

December 10–11, 2026 | Live on Zoom
10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET | 7:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. PT

Become a Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist through live crisis intervention and de-escalation training designed for professionals working in behavioral health, mobile crisis, 988 services, peer support, social services, healthcare, housing, education, and public safety.

Crisis de-escalation requires more than knowing the right words. Effective responders must understand what happens in the brain and body during crisis, regulate their own responses, recognize emotional triggers, establish attunement, and help create the conditions for co-regulation.

This highly interactive, two-day training presents the CCIS EDGE Approach to De-escalation through live instruction, intensive coaching, and realistic competency practice with professional actors.

The live CCIS-II training includes the foundational CCIS-I curriculum and prepares eligible participants to apply for the Certified Crisis Intervention Specialist credential through the National Anger Management Association.

A Professional Crisis Intervention Credential That Lasts

Many de-escalation courses provide a certificate of attendance. The CCIS pathway leads to a professional designation issued through the National Anger Management Association (NAMA).

Participants who successfully complete the attendance, participation, supervision, and competency requirements become eligible to apply for the CCIS-II credential. Once approved by NAMA, the CCIS is a lifetime professional credential that does not require routine renewal.

Crisis Intervention Training Built and Tested in the Field

The CCIS EDGE Approach is not a collection of generic communication tips. It is a comprehensive crisis-intervention framework developed for professionals who must remain effective during emotionally intense, unpredictable, and high-stakes interactions.

The approach has been used to train more than 2,700 crisis responders in one statewide initiative and is being implemented across mobile crisis and 988 services, behavioral-health programs, municipalities, Tribal Nations, housing organizations, shelters, nonprofits, and community agencies throughout the United States and Canada.

Growth Central Training has also trained professionals within one of Canada’s largest municipalities and continues to work with both small community organizations and large public systems.

Growth Central Training has also collaborated with the University of Washington School of Social Work’s Behavioral Health Crisis Outreach Response and Education program on crisis-response education featured by The Seattle Times.

The Neuro-Mechanics of Crisis De-escalation

The CCIS EDGE Approach examines crisis as more than a behavioral event. Participants learn how stress, perceived threat, emotional triggers, nervous-system activation, and the responder’s own state can influence the direction of an encounter.

The training explores the interaction among three essential elements:

• The internal state of the person experiencing crisis
• The internal state and behavior of the responder
• The relationship developing between them

This understanding forms the Neuro-Mechanics of Crisis De-escalation: the science and conceptual foundation for understanding how crisis develops, how interactions escalate, and what makes meaningful connection possible.

Regulate. Attune. Co-Regulate.

• Regulate: Recognize and manage the responder state before it shapes the intervention.
• Attune: Accurately observe and respond to the person’s emotional and relational needs.
• Co-Regulate: Use presence, communication, and connection to support movement out of crisis.

This is NeuroAttuned De-escalation: an applied philosophy that uses an understanding of the nervous system, human connection, and emotional processes to inform the responder’s approach.

Neuro-mechanics explains the crisis. NeuroAttunement informs the response. The CCIS EDGE Approach puts both into practice.

What Makes CCIS EDGE De-escalation Training Different?

• A nationally recognized CCIS professional credential issued through NAMA
• A lifetime designation rather than only a course-completion certificate
• A neuroscience-informed and trauma-responsive framework
• An emphasis on the responder’s role in escalation and de-escalation
• Training in self-regulation, attunement, and crisis co-regulation
• Live coaching from experienced crisis-intervention instructors
• Realistic competency practice with professional actors
• Demonstration of learned crisis-intervention competencies
• Required certification supervision included in tuition
• Skills applicable across crisis response and community settings

Learn Through Realistic Crisis Practice

Knowing a concept is not the same as being able to apply it under pressure. Participants practice the CCIS EDGE Approach in realistic scenarios with professional actors portraying people experiencing crisis and emotional overwhelm.

These scenarios allow participants to practice reading the interaction, regulating their own response, recognizing emotional triggers, establishing attunement, and making purposeful decisions in real time.

Participants receive supportive coaching and feedback designed to strengthen confidence, flexibility, and professional judgment. The purpose is not to deliver a memorized script. It is to develop the awareness and practical skill needed to respond effectively when an interaction does not go as expected.

Who Should Attend Crisis Intervention Training?

This training is designed for professionals and community responders who work with people experiencing crisis, emotional overwhelm, or behavioral escalation, including:

• Mobile crisis and 988 professionals
• Behavioral-health and mental-health providers
• Peer-support specialists
• Social workers and case managers
• First responders and co-responders
• Housing and shelter staff
• Healthcare and human-services professionals
• Educators and school-based professionals
• Substance-use and recovery professionals
• Community-based and faith-based providers

Training and Certification Requirements

To successfully complete the live CCIS-II training and become eligible to apply for the NAMA credential, participants must:

• Attend both training days in full
• Remain actively engaged throughout the training
• Participate in discussions, activities, and scenario-based practice
• Demonstrate the required crisis-intervention competencies
• Complete the required supervision component
• Submit the separate credential application and fee directly to NAMA

Because active participation and demonstrated competencies are required, participants must attend from a private, stationary location with a functioning camera and microphone. Participation while driving or performing other work duties is not permitted.

The CCIS EDGE Instructor Cadre
Our multidisciplinary instructor team brings experience in crisis response, behavioral health, counseling, law enforcement, education, peer support, and community-based services.