A safety plan is a personalised, practical strategy developed in advance for moments when you are experiencing overwhelming distress, thoughts of self-harm, or suicidal ideation. Having a safety plan prepared — before a crisis occurs — gives you a concrete roadmap to follow when thinking clearly may be more difficult.
Important: A safety plan is not a substitute for professional mental health support. If you are in crisis right now, please call or text 988 immediately.
Why Safety Plans Work
In moments of acute distress, the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain responsible for rational decision-making — becomes less accessible. Having a safety plan means you do not have to think through your options in the moment. The thinking has already been done. You simply follow the plan.
Research consistently finds that collaboratively developed safety plans, when used as intended, reduce the likelihood of self-harm and hospitalisation. They are most effective when developed with a clinician who knows you, but the framework below can help you begin thinking through your personal plan.
The Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Framework
The Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention is the most widely validated safety planning model. It has six components, to be worked through in order:
Step 1: Warning Signs
Identify the thoughts, images, moods, situations, and behaviours that indicate a crisis may be developing for you personally. What are the early signals — internal or external — that things are deteriorating? Write these down specifically. (Example: “Isolating myself for more than a day,” “Thoughts that nothing will ever improve,” “Feeling numb and disconnected from my body.”)
Step 2: Internal Coping Strategies
List things you can do on your own, without contact with others, that help you manage distress or distract yourself from it. These are your first line of response. (Examples: grounding exercises, physical movement, a cold shower, listening to specific music, engaging in a hobby, breathing techniques.)
Step 3: Social Contacts and Settings That Provide Distraction
Identify people you can contact and places you can go that provide social distraction — not necessarily to discuss your crisis, but to be in human contact and shift your environment. (Examples: a specific friend, a family member, a coffee shop you feel safe in.)
Step 4: People to Ask for Help
Identify specific people — with their phone numbers — who you can contact specifically for support when you are struggling. These are people who know about your difficulties and who you trust to be genuinely helpful. List at least two or three.
Step 5: Professional and Crisis Resources
List the professional resources you can contact in a crisis:
- Your therapist’s number and out-of-hours protocol
- Your psychiatrist or prescriber
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text)
- Your nearest emergency room address
- 911
Step 6: Making Your Environment Safe
Identify and take steps to reduce access to means of self-harm. This step is particularly important and should be developed with your clinician. Reducing access to lethal means is one of the most evidence-based elements of suicide prevention.
Working With Your Clinician
The most effective safety plans are developed collaboratively with a clinician who knows your history and current situation. If you are working with a therapist, we strongly encourage you to discuss safety planning explicitly — asking them to work through the Stanley-Brown framework with you.
If you do not currently have a clinician, the Trauma Institute can help connect you with appropriate care.
Contact the Trauma Institute | Crisis resources | Get help now