Due to the overuse of physical containment within the agency where this practicum study was conducted, an in-service training program was designed and implemented aimed at better preparing staff to de-escalate aggressive behavior. A three hour training session and a conclusive one-and-a-half hour long testing period (involving lecture, role play, video taped situations, and group discussion) were implemented. Staff trainees were observed within this milieu in order to insure that a transfer of learning to the practicum setting had been accomplished. The training increased staff verbal de-escalation skills, behavioral observation skills, and decreased assaultive behavior by eight 6- to 12-year-old girls in a residential treatment facility. Eight appendices include an implementation plan, list of physical restraints, injury log, de-escalation training guide, and a documentation review form. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/TS)