Free template
Safety plan template
A safety plan is a short, personal document a client builds with you while they are safe, for use in the moments when they are not: their own warning signs, their own coping steps, the specific people and numbers they will actually call. This template follows the widely used six-step safety planning structure developed in suicide-prevention research — warning signs, internal coping, social distraction, people to ask for help, professional crisis contacts, and means safety — plus a reasons-for-living line that many clinicians add.
It is a clinical tool, not paperwork: it works when it is completed collaboratively in session, in the client's own words, and the client leaves with a copy they can reach at 2 a.m.
The template
MY SAFETY PLAN Name: ____________________ Created with: ____________________ Date: ____________ If I am in immediate danger: call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, US), call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room. STEP 1 — MY WARNING SIGNS Thoughts, images, moods, situations, or behaviors that tell me a crisis may be building: 1. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________________________________ STEP 2 — THINGS I CAN DO ON MY OWN Coping strategies that can take my mind off my problems without contacting anyone (for example: going for a walk, music, a shower, a breathing exercise, exercise): 1. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________________________________ STEP 3 — PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT HELP ME FEEL BETTER People I can be around, and social places that provide distraction and connection (I do not need to tell them what is going on): 1. Name/place: ____________________________ Phone: ____________________ 2. Name/place: ____________________________ Phone: ____________________ 3. Name/place: ____________________________ Phone: ____________________ STEP 4 — PEOPLE I CAN ASK FOR HELP People I trust enough to tell that I am in crisis: 1. Name: __________________________________ Phone: ____________________ 2. Name: __________________________________ Phone: ____________________ 3. Name: __________________________________ Phone: ____________________ STEP 5 — PROFESSIONALS AND AGENCIES I CAN CONTACT IN A CRISIS My therapist: _____________________________ Phone: ____________________ Other provider (psychiatrist, PCP): _______ Phone: ____________________ 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (US): call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org Crisis Text Line (US): text HOME to 741741 Local crisis line or mobile crisis team: ________________________________ Nearest emergency room: ____________________ Address: ____________________ STEP 6 — MAKING MY ENVIRONMENT SAFER Ways I will put time and distance between myself and anything I could use to hurt myself (medications, firearms, other means): 1. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________________________________ People who can help me make my environment safer: _______________________________ WHAT IS WORTH LIVING FOR The people, commitments, and hopes that matter most to me: _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ I will keep a copy of this plan: [ ] in my phone [ ] in my wallet [ ] at home Next review date: ____________
How to use it
- Complete it together, in session, before the client leaves — not as homework.
- Use the client's own words, and push for specifics: names, phone numbers, places.
- Work the steps in order; each step is for when the previous one is not enough.
- Do not skip step 6. Adding time and distance between a person in crisis and lethal means is one of the best-supported interventions there is.
- Make sure the client leaves with a copy — a phone photo counts — and keep one in the record.
- Outside the US, replace 988 and the Crisis Text Line with your local crisis numbers before using the plan.
Common questions
Is a safety plan the same as a "no-suicide contract"?
No, and the difference matters. No-suicide contracts — asking a client to promise not to hurt themselves — have no evidence of preventing suicide and can shut down honest disclosure. A safety plan is the opposite: a collaborative, concrete list of what the client will do when a crisis builds, developed together while the client is calm enough to think clearly. Safety planning has real research support; contracts do not.
When should I complete a safety plan with a client?
Whenever there is any indication of suicide risk — an endorsement on a screener, a disclosure in session, a recent attempt or hospitalization discharge — and before the client leaves that session. It typically takes 20 to 45 minutes done well. A plan made "next week" protects no one this week.
Who writes the plan — me or the client?
The client, in their own words, with you guiding the structure. The plan only works if the client recognizes their own warning signs and believes in their own coping steps, and ownership is most of that. Your role is to prompt, help evaluate whether each item is realistic, and gently push for specifics — "call my sister" beats "reach out to someone."
How do I bring up the means-safety step without alienating the client?
Directly and collaboratively, the same way you would any other health risk. Ask what the client has access to, and problem-solve together how to add time and distance — storing medication with someone else, locking firearms and giving the key to a trusted person, or temporary off-site storage. Framing it as "buying your future self time" tends to land better than framing it as removal. Involving a family member often makes the step actually happen.
How often should the plan be updated?
Review it after any crisis where it was used — what worked, what did not — and at regular intervals while risk remains elevated. Contacts change, coping strategies wear out, and a plan the client has not looked at in a year is a document, not a plan. The template includes a next-review date for exactly this reason.
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This template supports, and does not replace, a clinical risk assessment and your own professional judgment. It reflects a widely used evidence-informed structure; adapt it to your setting and training, and follow your profession's standards for crisis care and documentation.