Safety Plan
A step-by-step safety plan based on the evidence-based Stanley-Brown model, to help you stay safe when thoughts of suicide arise, written in your own words and ready when you need it.
About this tool
If you are having thoughts of suicide, please know that you matter and that help is available right now. You can call or text 988 in the US to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. You do not have to face this alone, and this moment can pass.
A safety plan is a written, prioritized list of coping strategies and sources of support you can use before or during a suicidal crisis. This tool follows the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention, a brief intervention with strong research support that has been shown to reduce suicidal behavior and improve engagement with care. The power of a safety plan is that it is made while you are calm, so that in a crisis, when thinking narrows and hope feels far away, you do not have to figure out what to do. You simply follow your own plan.
The plan moves through escalating steps. First, recognizing your personal warning signs. Then coping skills you can do entirely on your own, followed by people and social settings that can distract and steady you, then people you can ask directly for help, and finally professionals and crisis services. A vital separate step is making your environment safer by reducing access to means, which research shows is one of the most effective ways to prevent suicide, because crises are often brief and impulsive.
Safety plans work best when made with a clinician or someone you trust, and when kept somewhere you can reach quickly, such as your phone. Everything you write here stays in your browser and is never uploaded or stored, and the PDF is generated on your own device. If you can, share your plan with a trusted person so they can support you with it.
- Stanley B, Brown GK. Safety planning intervention: a brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cogn Behav Pract. 2012;19(2):256-264.
- Stanley B, et al. Comparison of the safety planning intervention with follow-up vs usual care of suicidal patients treated in the emergency department. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018;75(9):894-900.
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Safety Plan FAQ
What is a safety plan?
A safety plan is a written, prioritized list of warning signs, coping skills, supportive people and places, professionals, and crisis lines, made while you are calm so you can follow it during a suicidal crisis. This tool uses the evidence-based Stanley-Brown model.
Does a safety plan actually work?
Yes. The Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention has been studied in randomized and large clinical samples and is associated with fewer suicidal behaviors and better follow-up with care, especially when combined with reducing access to means.
Should I make it with someone?
Ideally, yes. Safety plans are most effective when built with a therapist or clinician, and sharing it with a trusted person means someone can support you in using it. You can still complete it on your own here.
I'm in crisis right now. What do I do?
Please reach out immediately. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. You matter, and this can pass.