De-escalation refers to behavior that is intended to escape escalations of conflicts. It may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution. Escalations of commitment are often hard from spiraling out of proportions without specific measures being taken.
This often involves techniques such as taking a time-out, and deflecting the conversation to individuals in the group who are less passionately involved. This is a commonly used by Fee Team in mental health nursing practice. It is also used as an anger management tool to remove tension between two participants in a conflictual relationship or intervention.