Creating Safety Within: How to Use Safe Place Visualization to Calm Anxiety and Heal from Trauma

In the wake of trauma and uncertainty, feeling safe in your own mind can feel like an impossible dream. For many survivors of trauma and adversity, the nervous system is stuck in high-alert mode, constantly scanning for danger, even when none exists. But what if you could train your brain and body to feel safe again, using only your imagination?

This is the power of safe place visualization, a trauma-informed technique rooted in both neuroscience and clinical practice. By intentionally creating a mental space of calm and security, you can teach your nervous system what it feels like to be safe, laying the groundwork for deeper healing, emotional regulation, and readiness for trauma therapy like EMDR.

Why Visualization Works: A Look at the Brain

Visualization isn't just daydreaming. Neuroscientific research shows that when we vividly imagine a scene, whether it’s walking through a forest or sitting by the ocean, the same neural pathways activate as if we were experiencing it in real life (Kosslyn et al., 2001). In other words, the brain doesn’t fully distinguish between real and vividly imagined experiences.

This matters for trauma survivors. When we imagine a safe place, we give the amygdala (the brain’s threat detector) a break. We engage the parasympathetic nervous system—the body’s “rest and digest” mode, and reduce stress hormones like cortisol. Over time, practicing this kind of visualization can literally rewire our nervous system’s response to stress.

Safe Place Visualization in Trauma Therapy

In EMDR therapy and other trauma modalities, safe place visualization is often introduced during the preparation phase. It serves as a powerful grounding tool, helping clients build emotional regulation skills before processing traumatic memories.

Many trauma survivors have never had a safe space; physically or emotionally. By co-creating a safe place in the mind, clients begin to access what safety could feel like. It becomes a resource: a calming anchor they can return to again and again, inside and outside of sessions.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating Your Safe Place

You don’t need any special skills to try this. Just a few minutes and a willingness to be curious. Here’s how to begin:

Step 1: Find a Comfortable Space

Sit or lie down somewhere you won’t be disturbed. Allow your body to rest comfortably, with your feet on the ground or supported beneath you. Let your eyes close gently if that feels safe.

Step 2: Imagine a Place Where You Feel Completely Safe

This can be real or imagined. It might be a sunlit forest, a cozy room, a hidden beach; anywhere you feel peaceful and protected. There should be no people (unless they bring only a sense of calm), no obligations, and no danger.

Step 3: Engage All Your Senses

The more vividly you imagine your safe place, the more real it will feel to your nervous system. Ask yourself:

• What do you see? (Colors, shapes, textures)

• What do you hear? (Birdsong, wind, waves)

• What do you feel? (Warmth, cool breeze, soft earth)

• What do you smell? (Pine trees, ocean air, clean linen)

• What do you taste? (Fresh air, tea, nothing at all)

Step 4: Add Safety Anchors

Imagine anything that enhances your sense of safety; maybe a soft blanket, a protective animal, a warm glow. You’re in control here. You can build walls, add locks, or create an invisible forcefield. Whatever helps your body feel that this space is secure.

Step 5: Let Yourself Stay

Spend a few minutes simply being in your safe place. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back. Notice how your body feels. You might experience a softening in your chest, a deepening of your breath, or a quieting of your thoughts.

Step 6: Practice and Return

This space is always available to you. The more you practice, the more accessible it becomes; especially in moments of stress, anxiety, or overwhelm. Some people like to draw their safe place, write about it, or record a voice memo guiding themselves back to it.

Gentle Reminders

• If you notice distressing thoughts or images coming up, that’s okay. It’s normal. Just gently return your focus to the safe place.

• If you don’t feel safe visualizing, or can’t access calming imagery right now, that’s also okay. It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. It may help to work with a trauma-informed therapist to co-create your safe place together.

• Over time, your nervous system learns from repetition. Even 3–5 minutes a day can shift how your body responds to stress.

A Healing Practice for the Long Haul

Safe place visualization isn’t about escaping reality, it’s about building inner resources that help you stay grounded in it. For survivors of complex trauma, this practice can be the first step toward rebuilding a sense of safety, trust, and emotional stability.

When paired with EMDR or other trauma-focused therapies, visualization helps prepare the mind and body for deeper healing work. It becomes a refuge, a compass, and a powerful tool for regulation.

You deserve to feel safe, in your body, your mind, and your life. And sometimes, the path to safety begins with a single, imagined breath of fresh air.

References

• Kosslyn, S. M., Ganis, G., & Thompson, W. L. (2001). Neural foundations of imagery. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(9), 635–642. https://doi.org/10.1038/35090055

• Logie, R. H., & Denis, M. (1991). Mental Images in Human Cognition. Elsevier.

• Siegel, D. J. (2010). The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. W. W. Norton & Company.

• Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.