Freedom from Seclusion and Restraint – The Studio 3 Approach

The restraint and seclusion of vulnerable people is a pressing issue in the care industry. Whether you are a parent, professional or practitioner, it is important to dare to dream, and focus on making these practices a thing of the past. Many vulnerable people do not want to apply coercive methods, but can often struggle to see an alternative. For 30 years, the Studio 3 organization, led by Professor Andrew McDonnell, has championed approaches that not only reduce the practice of restraint and seclusion, but also aim to eradicate it.

This book is for any practitioner or family member supporting individuals in crisis. The Low Arousal Approach, designed and implemented by Studio 3, has been applied in a variety of different care settings, and is also becoming more popular in schools and classrooms. Applying the Low Arousal Approach to behaviour management and crisis situations is a complicated process. This book is full of honest examples about how to achieve restraint and seclusion elimination goals. This is a difficult and emotional subject, and readers may feel challenged by some elements of this book.

The Studio 3 approach to crisis management described in this book focuses on changing supporters’ own behaviour rather than the behaviour of often vulnerable and distressed people in crisis. The Studio 3 approach has been successfully applied in the area of restraint and seclusion de-compression and eradication in a variety of settings across the UK and Europe. Hopefully, this book will help readers to think about their own approaches to crisis management, and encourage them to support the restraint elimination movement in our care industries.