American Association for Emergency Psychiatry

Clinical practice guidelines

AAEP's Project BETA (Best practices in Evaluation and Treatment of Agitation) is a set of clinical practice guidelines designed to address the treatment of agitation in the acute, emergency psychiatric setting. Published in February 2012, the guidelines have been described by Dr. Scott L. Zeller, MD, AAEP Past President, as being "more humane, patient-centered interventions." The guidelines rely less upon restraint techniques, and more upon de-escalation techniques that encourage patient buy-in to the management of their agitation.