A safe place is somewhere you can go to in your imagination when you are overwhelmed or scared, when you want to feel relaxed, or you can’t go to sleep. You may have an actual “safe place” that you can go to, like your tree house, your friend’s room, or the canoe you paddle on the lake. Or, it might be the dream of somewhere you hope to see someday: a warm sunny beach; a dark, quiet forest; or a rain storm on the desert. It can also be somewhere totally imaginative, like the purple fairy forest of your childhood imagination, or the deep blue of the ocean, swimming with a pod of whales.
Wherever your safe place is, think about all the sounds, all the smells, all the sights, all the things you can touch and taste, and burn them into your imagination. All of these will help to plant the picture firmly in your mind and help you to think of it quicker when you are feeling scared or down. Write a story or a poem about your safe place, or draw a picture of it. If you don’t feel very artistic, make a collage out of pictures you cut or rip out of magazines. This will also help you to think of your safe place more quickly when you need it.
