Safety in Therapy
Building Safety in Therapy
You may be wondering how you can feel safe in therapy. I believe safety is so important to meet your goals in therapy. If you are feeling uncertain or uneasy about discussing a difficult topic, we can take several steps together to help increase your comfort.
Grounding in Session
You may feel overwhelmed when discussing a certain topic. I will keep an eye on when you may be feeling this way and encourage you to ground yourself to increase your feelings of safety. My favorite grounding approach is the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise. In this exercise, you identify:
5 things you see
4 things you hear
3 things you feel
2 things you smell
1 thing you taste.
This helps regulate difficult emotions and brings you back to the present. An additional grounding skill is to observe your environment and everything in it until you feel your anxiety or other difficult emotions reduce. Finally, we can share deep breathing exercises to help you feel soothed!
Safety in the Environment
The therapeutic environment can always be adjusted to better suit your needs. This can include reducing or increasing the lighting, sounds, or the space between us. Additionally, you could bring an item to help you feel more comfortable in the therapy room, such as a specific painting or picture that we can hang in session. I am always open to any other changes in the therapy room that will help you feel safer.
Gathering Safety Items
You can additionally bring items to the therapy session that will help you feel safer and more grounded. This can be a comforting item such as a stuffed animal or blanket. Items that enhance sensory experience can be helpful, such as:
Touch: a warm or soft blanket or stuffed animal, a soothing worry stone, fidget toys, soft or comfortable clothing
Sight: images you like, an item that brings you comfort on looking at it, something colorful that can distract you from overwhelming feelings, an object with an intricate design to collect your focus
Smell: bringing an essential oil that can bring you comfort if you smell it can be an effective way to build safety, wearing a cologne or perfume that helps you feel confident and comfortable
Taste: mints, gum, candies can help regulate your emotions as you discuss difficult topics
Hearing: hearing a soothing tone can help you, such as playing ambient music that doesn’t distract from the therapy session. Additionally, the noise machines used to protect your confidentiality may be adjusted to create a different sound, which may help you feel more secure in your confidentiality.
Reflecting on the Therapeutic Alliance
Situations in which you feel unheard or misunderstood may make it difficult to share vulnerably about difficult topics. When this is the case, I encourage you to openly share your thoughts and know that I will approach them nonjudgmentally and will not take them personally.
Additionally, you may sometimes get the sense that something is unsaid or unspoken on, either by yourself or me. If you feel this is the case, please feel free to share your thoughts that you have struggled to share. I always embrace any input into the therapeutic alliance and encourage you to find your own way of being your authentic self in the therapy room. If you have the feeling that I am not saying something, please inquire and I will honestly share my thoughts. This extends to any questions you may have about me—as a person or as your therapist—and I will answer honestly within therapeutic appropriateness.
These ruptures, if repaired in a healthy, appropriate way, actually have been found to increase the strength of the therapeutic alliance. As part of the intake session with me, I will explore how you would like me to repair therapeutic ruptures. I believe your input here is necessary as I strive to respect the way you relate to others, including me.
Get Connected
If this post helped ease your concerns about safety, know that it’s just a window into my practice as a therapist in Kansas City, and additional work will be even deeper. Reach out today at contact me for a free screening!