Personal restraint - Residential Treatment Centers Providing Services to Persons under the Age of 21: (42 CFR 483.352) The application of physical force without the use of any device, for the purpose of restricting the free movement of a behavioral health recipient’s body. Personal restraint does not include briefly holding without undue force a resident in order to calm or comfort him or her, or holding a resident’s hand to safely escort a resident from one area to another.