Safe Space Counseling: Building Your Practice Based On Trust

The term “safe space” is often used to refer to college campuses or workplaces that strive to eliminate discrimination and harassment. Exploring what safe spaces mean in the context of therapy—and how to cultivate them—may help you create a more trusting, genuine, and healing environment for your clients. 

What is a safe space?

A safe space is generally defined as a place in which any person is free from bias, harassment, discrimination, intolerance, and mental or physical threats. The term “safe space” likely originated in the 1960’s in reference to gay and lesbian bars, when a safe space meant a place where people could collectively resist repression.

Many safe spaces, such as LGBTQIA+ bars, offer a sense of psychological safety, but they’re not 100% safe from physical violence or hate crimes. In this sense of the term, “safety” translates to emotional protection, which contrasts with the outside world, where microaggressions, intolerance, or traumatic experiences may be a common occurrence in people’s lives. 

Examples of safe spaces may include: 

• A support group for people with postpartum depression
• A barbershop
• A LGBTQIA+ bar
• A church
• A community center
• A social club for people with a shared identity or experiences
• A yoga class for people experiencing grief
• An afterschool program for young families 

Note: Some people conflate emotional safe spaces with academic safe spaces. Though these two concepts share the same terminology, they are not synonymous. An emotional safe space is a respectful and comfortable environment free from intolerance, whereas an academic safe space refers to freedom of speech to make other people uncomfortable during intellectual discussions. According to Harvard Political Review, both spaces can be important, but this article only discusses emotionally safe spaces. 

The importance of safe spaces in therapy

Safe spaces are often considered especially important in the field of psychotherapy because they can promote: 

• Overall comfort 
• Trust
• Honesty
• Less shame or embarrassment sharing concerns or symptoms
• Reduced sense of isolation
• A greater ability to share thoughts, feelings, and ideas, without fear of judgment or criticism
• A strong therapeutic alliance
• Healing 

When clients trust their therapist, they may feel more comfortable discussing thoughts and feelings that they had been dealing with in isolation. The importance of safe spaces applies to all clients, including children, adolescents, and adults.

Creating a positive therapy environment

A safe space isn’t usually created by declaring, “This is a safe space,” or stating that one offers safe-space counseling. Instead, trust and respect must be slowly and consistently established, allowing clients to share as they feel comfortable. To foster a safe therapy environment, therapists should emphasize the following: 

• Active listening: Therapists should aim to really listen and hear what their clients are trying to tell them and demonstrate a desire to understand their experience. Therapists who are active listeners will often ask follow-up questions, ask for clarification, avoid interrupting, nod, or use other gestures to show that they’re intently listening, and use paraphrasing to ensure they’re understanding what their client is saying. 
• Empathy: Therapists should express empathy towards their clients’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences. When clients feel seen and heard, they’re more likely to continue sharing their challenges and building a stronger therapeutic alliance. 
• Validating feelings: Therapists should aim to recognize and accept the validity of their client’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, if a client is experiencing anxiety, the therapist should aim to accept the legitimacy of their emotional experience, rather than belittling or dismissing it. Rather than say, “Things will get better,” the therapist should consider saying something like, “I see how that could make you feel this way,” or, “Thank you for sharing how that makes you feel.”
• Authenticity: Though the therapist-client relationship should remain professional, therapists should aim to be genuine, humble, present, and responsive to their client’s needs. Therapists do not need to project an image of all-knowing perfection, rather they should aim to be an authentic and empathetic listener first and foremost. 
• Let clients take the lead: In general, therapists should resist the instinct to lead discussions or push certain topics. Instead, they should first allow clients to pursue topics that may require a high degree of trust and vulnerability. 
• Valuing the client: The therapist should value the client for their very existence, rather than any specific behaviors or lack-there-of. 
• Maintain boundaries: The relationship between therapist and client should remain professional, and confessions about the therapist’s own experiences or personal life should be kept to a minimum. The goal of therapy is to promote the healing and mental health of the client, and therapy sessions should work solely in the service of this goal. 
• A healing, professional environment: In-person therapists can build a more comfortable environment with their decoration and furniture choices, and they may also choose to offer some beverages or treats, such as herbal tea or individually wrapped chocolates, or use an essential oil diffuser to create a more inviting space. Online therapists should carefully choose a professional but inviting background for video sessions with their clients.  

Do safe spaces apply to online therapy? 

Whether therapy sessions are conducted online or in-person, the creation of a safe space is often conducive to the best mental health outcomes. In psychological terms, a safe space is created when the therapist and client achieve a strong therapeutic alliance (a trusting, respectful, and collaborative relationship).

Research shows that, with careful attention, therapists can build safe spaces online. A 2020 study published in JMIR Mental Health found that online therapy can further reduce shame and perceived stigma for people with mental health concerns, and it can boost the client’s sense of autonomy in their healing journey, compared with in-person therapy.

Additionally, online therapy is often more affordable and accessible than in-person talk therapy, particularly for people living in rural areas or those who have difficulty traveling to therapy sessions during business hours. Online therapy platforms, like BetterHelp, also make it easier to create a safe space by matching clients and therapists based on their background, preferences, and location.