Emotional trauma

Today was a tough day. One of the people we serve had a most difficult time and escalated to become a danger to others. After what seemed like a very long time of attempting to de-escalate the person with every tool we possessed the person became physically assaultive to staff. This young lady spit and staff and attempted to punch them also. At that point staff had no alternative but to put hands on her to keep people safe.
It is never an easy thing to physically hold someone who is out of control on a number of levels. First people can get hurt. Second you run the risk of re-traumatizing them and in some case staff also can be traumatized. At times like this we (staff ) interact with the utmost dignity and respect as this can be helpful in times of high anxiety. Some people do not realize that if one person is in crisis you can be sure there are others in crisis also. Staff can become anxious and we always need to know where we are in the crisis cycle. We never want to be the cause of escalating someone!
I personally find physical intervene a painful thing to do and as a result do all I can to prevent people from having to be physically held. Emotionally it takes time for me to process my feelings. As I sometimes do become traumatized. I am lucky to have staff who understand this and are very supportive and help me process afterwards. I am grateful to be part of a great team. Thanks for all the support!