Trauma and safety – are you saying it or being it?

Words drawn from Katie Kurtz, Will Rezin and the Blue Knot Foundation

Intrapersonal Safety

People with lived experience of trauma can often feel unsafe within their own bodies - unable to control or predict thoughts and emotions.

Interpersonal Safety

People with lived experience of trauma can feel unsafe in relationships and interactions with others. Some have never had the opportunity to experience a safe relationship.

• Psychological Safety is the belief in a group, that we are safe to take interpersonal risks. It’s the belief that we can speak up with ideas, questions, mistakes, and that we won’t suffer negative social or professional consequences as a result
• Emotional Safety refers to an emotional state achieved in attachment relationships wherein each individual is open and vulnerable.

Environmental Safety

People with lived experience of trauma can feel unsafe in their surroundings - the present can easily trigger 'the past'.

Systemic Safety

People with lived experience of trauma can feel unsafe in systems and institutions if they were unsupported by or abused within them, or not have cultural norms acknowledged.

You've probably heard the phrase "safe space" used often.

Safe for who? Spaces can’t be safe.

Safety is an individual determination which is accessed internally.

Safety isn't something you declare. It's something you create.

For trauma survivors, words like "safe space" can be a warning sign.

Folks don't feel safe because of what you say. They feel it through your actions, your presence, and the trust you establish moment by moment.

Simply claiming to be safe, without embodying it, can harm your connection with folks.

It can leave them feeling unseen, activated or triggered.

Safety isn't a title you wear; it's a responsibility you live.

Actions like attunement, providing clarity, and holding steady presence are what build true safety in practice.