The European Network of Training in the Management of Aggression (ENTMA aka “ENTMA08”) is a network for those associated with the assessment, planning, delivery, educating, evaluation, commissioning, regulating or researching training in the management of aggression within health and social care, education, and related settings. The network involves a broad range of professionals, administrators, regulators, researchers and educators from all disciplines in health and social care and related social settings.
ENTMA was established in 2008, built upon the success of an informal alliance of trainers/instructors in the management of aggression from many service settings across Europe, which had been initiated by CONNECTING, and had met annually since 1999. These meetings provided a collaborative forum for exchanging theoretical and practical perspectives on training provision, enhancing training practice, and exploring the development of a shared vision of the core values underpinning the provision of training in aggression management from multiple perspectives.
In 2007 it was decided by the forum to strengthen this successful alliance and a steering committee of representatives from nine different European countries, was established which was formally launched as ENTMA on 18th November 2008 in the ‘Amsterdam Arena’ Netherlands.
Since 2008 ENTMA has hosted four international symposia events in Amsterdam (2008, 2010) Dublin (2014), Edinburgh (2017), and will host the 5th Symposium in Krakow in September 2019. In addition ENTMA has co-facilitated events in association with the 9th, and 10th European Violence in Clinical Psychiatry Congresses (Copenhagen 2017, Dublin 2018). A hiatus caused as so many have been by COVID led to planned events in 2020 being cancelled and delays to a number of projects.
In 2014, following the conduct of a Delphi study involving trainers and others from across Europe, ENTMA published a 13 point European Charter of Training in aggression management.
Interest in, and working alliances with, the network has continued to grow since 2008, and now involves alliances beyond Europe.