Safety Plan - Crisis Prevention Plan

1)    I will try to notice the following warning signs and triggers:

2)    I'd like staff/my family to notice the following warning signs:

3)    When I notice these triggers or warning signs. I will take action to prevent a crisis from developing by doing the following:

4)    When staff/my family notice that I'm getting upset, I'd like them to help me prevent a crisis by doing the following:

5)    When I handle a potential crisis without doing anything to make it worse, I can reward myself by:

6)    Other ideas about what to do if a crisis develops:

Suggestions about using this safety plan with young people who are showing frequent problem behavior:

• Make sure the plan beloMIS to the young person. Ideally, a safety plan should be developed with a young person at a time when they are calm and well-regulated. As much as possible we want to help the young person have ownership of their own plan, rather than seeing it as some kind of routine paperwork they are required to do for the adults working with them. With many young people, it will be best to work through it with them item by nem, giving plenty of encouragement and validation, but one!SwilI ----• prefer to take the form and fill it out on their own - you also might use a combination of these approaches
• Make the plan a living document - The safety plan should be taken out and used when a problem is brewing and it should be revised whenever there has been an incident when safety was threatened or where a crisis was averted. As your work progresses and more is learned about triggers, warning signs, useful interventions, and what to avoid doing, all of this information should be added to the plan. You may want to take the information on the form and put it in a more easily accessible format. For example. you could make a 3X5 card with "Things to notice" on one side and Things to try" on the other. as shown below:

My Safety Plan

Things to notice:

Triggers: Sudden loud noises, being teased. being told"no," being physically crowded, being reminded about the rules, dinnertime

Warning Signs: Getting really quiet, withdrawing, clenching my fists, heart pounding, thinking "It's not fair." getting a headache.

Things to Try:

Distractions: play a videogame, do a crossword puzzle, call a friend on the phone, get some physical exercise (run around the block, play hoops, jump rope), hold on to an Ice cube Self-soothing: put on happy music, take a hot shower, play my guitar, have a cup of tea, say to myself• I can handle it," do deep breathing

Don't try: telling me to "chill," giving me a hug, watching a sad movie.

Safety Plans are not just for young people! Youth workers and counselors may find it helpful to fill out their own plan, share it with co-workers, and show it to youth. This is a way of recognizing that everyone struggles to regulate our emotions and handle stress effectively. When working with a family, it may be helpful to have parents and siblings develop and share safely plans. as well as the identified client, so that all family members can be more aware of how to help keep the home environment calm and safe for everyone.