Throughout this course, a core tool we will return to time and time again is our Safety and Self Care Plan. Attached below you will find a downloadable version of our safety and self care plan that you can use throughout the course. We recommend that you make a copy and title it with your name, look through the document, and get started on page one of the plan. You will continue to get prompts to work on this plan throughout the 8 weeks so you do not have to complete it right now, although we encourage you to get it started.

This resource is to help you be proactive and prepare to care for yourself. It is best to fill out when you are in a positive space and feel cared for and safe. Filling this out can be triggering, it is ok not to know who you have to support you, or where you can go. This can also be a tool to identify spaces for growth and strategy to build more of a support system.

If you plan to do the full guide in one go, it is recommended to set aside 45 minutes on two consecutive days to complete your safety and self-care plan. You may need a little more or less time, depending on what comes up for you while engaging with these questions. Below are recommendations for pre- and after-care while taking the time to complete your plan. You will also see question prompts, which are recommended as discussion points with your cohort buddy. 

Pre-Care:

How can you set yourself up to feel supported throughout the process of completing this plan?

Prior to taking the time to complete your plan, give some thought to what environment allows you to feel safest and most comfortable. Do you like to be in your living room without any roommates or other people around? If so, can you ask those you live with to offer your privacy during those 45 minutes? Is it important for you to have a full belly prior to doing emotional work? If so, what meal do you want to eat before you fill out your plan? Is it supportive to have tea and a soft blanket nearby? Would you like music to be playing in the background? Are your emotions most accessible in the morning, afternoon, or evening? Try to get as specific as possible about the environment that you can set prior to filling out this plan. If you’re struggling with this task, ask your cohort buddy for some tips on how they’ve set their pre-care environment. 

After-care:

What are resources you can rely on after you write your safety and self-care plan?

After-care is a way in which you can feel closure after a vulnerable experience. In planning for the time you take to fill out the safety and self-care plan, you may want to consider additional time for after-care. Everyone has their own personal resources to pull on to close an emotional space. You could plan to watch a favorite movie, call a friend or loved one, have a therapy session (this could include any practitioner you have a supportive relationship with), take a long bath, spend time in nature, go for a drive, dance to a good playlist, eat a delicious meal, or engage in expressive arts. Thinking about your after-care in advance will give you space to process whatever comes up in the process of creating your safety and self-care plan. Instead of crunching this in before you head off to work or go out for the evening, having buffer time is valuable to fully integrate any emotions that come up for you.  

Question Prompts:

We recommend you schedule a 1:1 meeting with a learning buddy or support person to discuss the process of filling out your safety and self-care plan. It is not mandatory to discuss the questions below, you may use them as a guide for your debrief conversation together if you’d like. 

• How did you set your environment before working through the safety and self-care plan?
  • Did you find this environment was supportive in completing your plan?
• Were there any questions in particular you struggled with?
  • If so, can I support you in figuring out what your response might be to that question(s)?
• When it comes to recognizing signs of struggling with self-care, is there anything you’d like me to know about in more detail on that worksheet, in case it arises while going through this cohort?
• Are there any specific boundaries you would like to set with each other as cohort buddies?
• How did your after-care plan go for you? 
  • Did you learn anything about yourself through doing this after-care? 
  • Would you like to engage in after-care throughout this learning process?