Areas › After harm › Safety and grounding
Build one place or time in your day that reliably feels safe, and return to it when you need steadying.
Healing needs a floor to stand on. A predictable pocket of safety is that floor; protect it.
Qur’an and Sunnah
It is those who have faith, and do not mix their faith with idolatry, who will be secure (Quran 6:82). Security is named as a fruit of a heart anchored in Him.
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَلَمۡ يَلۡبِسُوٓاْ إِيمَٰنَهُم بِظُلۡمٍ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمُ ٱلۡأَمۡنُ وَهُم مُّهۡتَدُونَ
It is those who have faith, and do not mix their faith with idolatry, who will be secure, and it is they who are rightly guided.’
Qur’an 6:82read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
Recovery unfolds in stages, and building safety and steadiness comes first, before facing the memory. You are not behind for needing this stage; it is the ground everything else stands on.
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence. Basic Books
Recovery from trauma unfolds in stages, and establishing safety and stabilisation comes before facing the memory.
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Establishing dependable safety and stabilisation is the necessary first stage before any deeper trauma work.
Where this sits: Stage 1, Safety and Stabilization (Herman); grounding.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
When fear rises, being near a calm, safe person, or turning to God's remembrance, helps your body borrow that steadiness.
Breathe out longer than you breathe in, a few times. A slow breath tells the body it is safe.
When the past floods in, name five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch. Come back to now.