Safe Place & Cue

Someone’s safe place can be anything--their childhood home, their local cafe, or the time you
went on a quick trip to their favourite place.

The cue word or phrase accompanying the memory of one’s safe place can also be anything,
as long as it helps that person associate the memory with the word, easily triggering the
positive feeling of the safe place.

Below, we’ll take a look at how to find your safe place and to note down your cue word(s).

Visualizing your Safe Place

1. Try to find a spot where you won’t be distracted. If you can’t find a quiet place, you can
listen to music that calms you down.
2. For the next few uninterrupted moments, you’ll be imagining your safe place. It can be a
real place or a place you imagined. There could be sounds in the
background of your safe place. There could be a pleasant smell
in the air.
3. Think about what space makes you feel positively, and write it
down on a piece of paper.
4. Take another moment--it can be a minute or more--visualizing
your safe place and imagining yourself there, feeling positively.
Let the positivity wash over you.

Coming up with your Cue

1. With your safe place in mind, what word or phrase helps bring you to your safe space?
2. If you can’t think of specific words, you can try the words “relax” or “peace”. The cue
word(s) you choose should be able to let you feel as you would if you imagined yourself
in your safe place.
3. Take another moment--it can be a minute or more--thinking or saying
your cue word(s), and imagining yourself in your safe, positive
space.

Recommended videos:
ASMR safe-place visualization and cue-controlled relaxation
Safe-Place Visualization​ & ​Cue-Controlled Relaxation

by Maria Asuncion
based on The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook