What is Psychological & Emotional Safety?

Psychological Safety is the absence of harm and/or threat of harm to mental well-being that anyone can experience.

Traumatic experiences can significantly alter a person’s perception of themselves, their environment, and the people around them.

Psychological and emotional safety of the professional is also a key factor. This is because the person providing the care cannot ignore their own past experiences as they provide services. If the professional does not feel psychologically and emotionally safe they can have an impact on the quality of the interaction between them and the service receiver. This can re-traumatize the service receiver. It can also have an adverse impact on the professional based on the response from the service receiver.

Attunement is the capacity of professionals and service receivers to accurately read each other’s physical and verbal cues and respond appropriately. This increases safety for the service receiver as well as for the professional.