FAQ

What is a de-escalation room?

A de-escalation room is a safe, low-stimulation space where someone experiencing emotional distress or behavioural escalation can settle: soft or padded surfaces, gentle dimmable light, minimal visual clutter and no hard edges. You will also hear calm room, calming room, reset room or breakout room; the idea is the same.

Used well, it is somewhere a person chooses to go, with staff support, when they feel their emotions rising, which makes it a preventative space rather than a restrictive one. That distinction is a design outcome: the room has to feel like a comfortable den someone would want to use, not a seclusion space.