Mental Health Safety Plan
Click here to learn more about Mental Health Safety Plans and how they can harm your at-risk clients.
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What Is a Mental Health Safety Plan Template?
Crisis planning can help an individual through a highly vulnerable moment. A Mental Health Safety Plan Template is a vital resource when caring for clients who may be at risk of crisis or suicidal tendencies. However, being suicidal is not the only reason that may warrant the utilization of a Mental Health Safety Plan.
It is essential to differentiate between the types of safety plans. Another popular mental health intervention for those who are at risk is ‘No Suicide Contracts.’ In simple terms, these are contracts that the client signs promising not to attempt suicide. This is not what a Mental Health Safety Plan is. Although helpful, there is a distinct difference between the two crisis interventions.
A typical Mental Health Safety Plan will encompass essential aspects for the individual to consider when they feel they are reaching a low. These aspects may include:
Personal warning signs
- Coping skills
- Support people
- Professional /emergency support
- Safe environment planning
- Identifying when to reach out to supports
The great thing about Mental Health Safety Plans is that they can be adapted to what is essential to the individual. They must be adaptable as they may be used in different scenarios for different people.
A Mental Health Safety Plan aims to empower struggling individuals to participate actively in their recovery. The plan works by holding the individual accountable for what they can do when feeling low or anticipating a crisis.
Downloadable Mental Health Safety Plan PDF
Enhance your mental health with our free Mental Health Safety Plan PDF
How Does It Work?
We’ve created a step-by-step set of instructions that can help you work through creating a Mental Health Safety Plan Template with your client. Completing this worksheet must be done collaboratively as comfort places and support people will differ.
Step One: Obtain the Mental Health Safety Plan Template
You can obtain the Printable Mental Health Safety Plan Template by navigating to the template section within the Carepatron website. From here, you can either download the template for online completion or download and print it for in-session use.
Step Two: Fill in the Template
It is important to remember to create the Mental Health Safety Plan Template in collaboration with your client. You can ask questions about support activities/places and get a sense of who else in their life can support them during a crisis. Then, you can collaboratively fill in the template and answer any questions.
Step Three: Securely Store the Template
It might be a good idea to store the completed template securely. Keeping your patient's completed version on file can allow for a more comprehensive care plan. It can also allow for collaborative work between differing mental health practitioners if a crisis occurs. It can also be used as a progression tool. It might also be a good idea to revise their Mental Health Safety Plan Template after a few months to allow for adaptations.
Mental Health Safety Plan Example (Sample)
We’re all about making life as a mental health professional much more accessible. That’s why we’ve created a completed Mental Health Safety Plan Template PDF for your reference. Please note that the answers in this example are purely fictional.
Download our Mental Health Safety Plan Example PDF
Mental Health Safety Plan Example
When Would You Use This Template?
Crisis Intervention
The usual way that mental healthcare professionals implement these Mental Health Safety Plans is when there may be a risk to an individual’s current progression in their psychological well-being. As a crisis intervention tool, a Mental Health Safety Plan Template can help individuals make positive decisions that will help them cope when they are experiencing severe mental health distress.
Use of the template is ultimately up to the healthcare professionals' discretion, although utilization of the template can come in handy on various occasions—not just as a crisis intervention.
Ongoing Mental Health Management
For patients who are living with other forms of psychological issues, such as anxiety, depression, or self-harm tendencies, a Mental Health Safety Plan can support them through the lows that they may endure. Their plan can be tailored to their needs and can also work towards preventing a crisis.
Transitioning Mental Health Care
Mental Health Safety Plans can be helpful when a restructuring is happening for the patient. Whether the transition concerns personal changes or changes within their care, the patient can maintain stability during uncertain times. The safety plan can also help new mental health carers comprehend what tools and skills the individual has and work with them seamlessly.
What Do The Results Mean?
The results of the Mental Health Safety Plan Template aren’t measured. It is more appropriate to look for what results a successful Mental Health Safety Plan Template might encompass.
A successful Mental Health Safety Plan Template works towards a reduction in crisis frequency. Individuals using a mental health safety plan can use their plan to focus on the activities that bring them joy and contact the support people in their lives. The Mental Health Safety Plan Template can help people feel more relief by highlighting their strengths and activities they enjoy.
Highlighting an individual’s strengths can lead to improved coping skills. Individuals who have acknowledged their strong passions for activities may be more inclined to sort those activities out as a coping strategy when going through a stressful situation or crisis.
Improved positive coping skills may also contribute to an increased sense of self. The individual may begin to feel control over their emotions and ability to control other situations in their life that may harm them.
Why Use Carepatron as Your Mental Health Safety Plan App?
As a busy therapist, Carepatron is the best place to do your mental health work. We admire your strict line of work, and you deserve a platform that takes care of those extra worries.
Carepatron is a leading telehealth platform that prioritizes making working life smoother for healthcare professionals in every discipline. With Carepatron, you can look forward to a seamless work life that takes care of pesky administrative tasks such as payments, appointment scheduling, appointment reminders, and much more!
We’re here to provide you with a seamless work experience. Using Carepatron, you can wave goodbye to anxieties about missing client payments with our medical billing system. There’s also no need to spend too long scheduling patient appointments and therapy sessions with our patient scheduling software. Oh, and while we’re here, let us take care of those reminders you send out. With our patient appointment reminder software, you won’t have to worry about reminders.
As your Mental Health Safety Plan Template Software, you can look forward to an effortless way to manage your mental health practice. Carepatron is your dependable practice management software. Over 1,000 free templates are waiting for you.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Carepatron today!
References
Hawton, K., Lascelles, K., Pitman, A., Gilbert, S., & Silverman, M. (2022). Assessment of suicide risk in mental health practice: shifting from prediction to therapeutic assessment, formulation, and risk management. The Lancet Psychiatry, 9(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(22)00232-2
Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001
Commonly asked questions
At Carepatron, we have created a Mental Health Safety Plan Template for your use. If you want to create your own, you can work with the client and include important support people.
Mental Health Safety Plan Templates are used when there is an increased risk of crisis or suicidal behavior. However, they do not only need to be used during this time. Individuals who are experiencing psychopathology on a lower extreme may also create one.
Individuals can identify a good time to use the Mental Health Safety Plan. If clients need to utilize the template, they can fill out the sections they need to and contact people outlined in their plan.
Therapists and clients can work together to create a Mental Health Safety Plan. We have created a Mental Health Safety Plan Template that practitioners can use for free.
