I am trained and have extensive experience in using Seeking Safety in my therapy practice.
What is Seeking Safety?
Seeking Safety was designed for people with a history of trauma and/or addiction.
Trauma means a distressing event such as childhood abuse, a major accident, combat, domestic violence, natural disaster, etc.
Addiction means destructive use of alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, shopping, etc.
It focuses on coping skills to help you become more safe in your relationships, thinking, and actions.
Seeking Safety is very safe and optimistic. It focuses on your strengths and helps you increase them. It has 25 topics, although you can do as few or many as you choose to.
Examples of the topics are:
- Safety
- Taking Good Care of Yourself
- Honesty
- Asking for Help
- Recovery Thinking
- Setting Boundaries in Relationships
- Healthy Relationships
- Creating Meaning
- Compassion
- Detaching from Emotional Pain (Grounding)
- Community Resources
- Discovery
- Getting Others to Support Your Recovery
- Integrating the Split Self
- Commitment
- Respecting Your Time
- Coping with Triggers
- Self-Nurturing
- Red and Green Flags
- Life Choices
Every session of Seeking Safety is structured with a check-in, an inspiring quotation, discussion, and check-out. The goal is to use session time well to help you get the most from each session.
Seeking Safety focuses on the present. This means you will not be asked to reveal upsetting stories of trauma or addiction. We focus on what you can do right now to create a better life for yourself.
It is relevant to all types of trauma and/or addiction. For example, you may have survived traumas such as child abuse, combat, natural disasters, accidents, or violence. You may have addiction to substances, gambling, food, or other behavior. If you have both trauma and addiction issues, we address the link between the two—how common it is for the two to go together.
Seeking Safety has been successfully used for over 20 years across genders and with people struggling with many different life issues including HIV/AIDS, homelessness, serious mental illness, and incarceration.
Who can benefit from Seeking Safety?
Anyone can benefit. You can get a lot from participating, especially if you are open to new coping skills to improve your life.
Does Seeking Safety work?
Seeking Safety is the most popular and scientifically studied counseling model for trauma and addiction. Research shows that it works for both trauma and addiction issues, is cost-effective, and very safe.
Is Seeking Safety culturally sensitive?
Yes. Seeking Safety has been implemented with diverse cultural and ethnic groups, who have consistently expressed strong satisfaction with it. It has also been translated into over 12 languages. Seeking Safety emphasizes adaptation to each person’s needs.
If you are interested in Seeking Safety, please contact me using the form below:
This summary was written by Lisa M. Najavits, PhD, the developer of Seeking Safety (June, 2018).