Program Goals

The goals of The Mandt System^® are:

• Build healthy workplace relationships between the staff of the organization to create a culture of safety.
• Build healthy relationships between the staff and the service recipients and their families to build upon the culture of safety.
• Increase the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of all people.
• Prevent crises from occurring by informing staff of proactive strategies and actions.

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for The Mandt System®.

Essential Components

The essential components of The Mandt System® include:

• Two Relational Chapters that are required to be taught prior to teaching any other chapters:
• Chapter 1, Primary Prevention: Building and Maintaining Healthy Relationships, is designed to teach what the components of healthy relationships are and how they can be built and maintained through healthy communication. R.A.D.A.R. model is presented to maintain situational awareness. Skills covered and assessed include:
• Verbal Skills
• Paralanguage Skills
• Nonverbal Skills
• I-Statement Skills
• Perception Checking Skills
• Chapter 2, De-escalation Skills: Self-regulation & Co-regulation is designed to teach how to better manage ourselves before we begin to work with others. The Mandt System Crisis Cycle and debriefing are covered. Skills covered and assessed include:
• Self-Regulation Skills:
• Affirm feelings and choosing behavior
• Regulated breathing
• Body scan
• Sensory grounding
• Co-regulation Skills:
• Relaxed safe presence
• Stimulus management
• Affirm feelings in others
• Bottom-up options
• Cueing safer behavior
• Listening
• Two Technical Chapters are designed to provide specific physical skills to provide safety for caregivers and people to whom they provide care:
• Note: The skills are based on principles and applied in a way that treats all people with dignity and respect while also avoiding prohibited practices that have a higher risk of harm. The skills are arranged in a graded and gradual hierarchy of interventions. Each of the physical skills has an ergonomic assessment that describes how the skills provide safety for the persons performing the skills and the persons on whom the skills are being performed.
• Chapter 3, Technical Self-Protection Skills, is designed to provide the training for organizations who may need to use physical skills for self-protection, but restrictive holding skills may not be necessary. Skills covered and assessed include:
• Stances
• Movement
• Being Pushed/Pulled
• Avoidance & Redirection
• Covering
• Releases – Wrist, Clothing, Finger, Bites, Hair Pull, and Strangulation Chokes
• Chapter 4, Technical Holding Skills, is designed to provide the training for organizations that need more than just self-protection skills. This component includes holding techniques that may be used to assist a person who is cooperative but struggling with balance. Also included are restrictive holds that may be needed to provide safety for team members and individuals receiving services. Restrictive holds should only be used for the purpose of protection. Skills covered and assessed include:
• Self-injurious Bite Release
• Walking with and Accompanying
• Escort
• One and Two Arm Holds
• Side Body Hold
• Three-Person Assist to Chair
• These skills are grouped into possible tracks in which staff can be certified. Tracks include:
• Standard Track (all skills)
• Solo Track
• Elementary Education Track
• Secondary Education Track
• Observer/Monitor Track
• Two Conceptual Chapters are designed to provide information in specific areas that increase the emotional, psychological, and physical safety of all people:
• Trauma-Informed Services provides a subclinical foundation empowering people to be aware of the neurobiological effects of abuse and neglect, and how to respond in ways that minimize the potential for retraumatization. Information from the Child Trauma Academy is incorporated with the permission of the author, Bruce Perry MD, PhD
• Positive Behavior Interventions and Support provides an overview of what positive behavior interventions and support is and how to implement behavior change strategies in noncoercive ways.

Program Delivery

Recommended Intensity:

This program is not a person specific intervention, but a full system approach that targets the entire staff and is incorporated into usual agency practice.

Recommended Duration:

The program contains strategies that are incorporated into usual practice. Skills learned in training can be used as needed.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Daily Living Setting
• Foster / Kinship Care
• Hospital
• Outpatient Clinic
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Group or Residential Care
• Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)
• School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
• Shelter (Domestic Violence, Homeless, etc.)

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

• Staff needs to be trained in the techniques.
• Techniques can be performed anywhere, no additional room requirements, or resources are needed.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

The minimum qualifications are set by the organization's program and procedures.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

• The Mandt System (2025). The Mandt System Instructor Manual 3.0. Author.

All certified trainers are provided an Instructor’s Manual, which is used during the training program. Additional resources are available to instructors via mandtsystem.com. Instructors can login to their account to access presentations, manuals, activities, and resources to prepare for training.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Dale L. Shannon, PhD (He/Him)
  dale@mandtsystem.com
  phone: (800) 810-0755

Training Type/Location:

The program is taught using a train-the-trainer model. Training can be provided on-site or regionally. A minimum of 12 trainers is required to provide the train-the-trainer program. Training availability or requests for additional information can be found at www.mandtsystem.com.

Number of days/hours:

For a general staff member to learn to train the techniques of The Mandt System®, two days is required for the Relational Certification and an additional two days for the Technical Certification. The hours for trainer certification are 8 am to 5 pm with lunch and breaks:

• Relational (nonphysical) – 2 days
• Relational and Technical (includes physical techniques) – 4 days
• Trainer certification in the Conceptual modules is completed online after the Relational or Relational and Technical certification is achieved.
• The Mandt System^® has a modular design to provide flexibility to organizations in their implementation of the program. Once certified, the time for a trainer to certify their staff is usually 8 hours for the Relational and an additional 8 hours for the Technical in a traditional face-to-face model. Organizations using the training program have the option of implementing the course in a blended learning version to reduce the necessary classroom time.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

There are currently no published, peer-reviewed research studies on outcomes with the appropriate target population for the topic area(s) in which The Mandt System® has been reviewed.

Additional References