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Encouraging vulnerable and emotionally distressed clients to feel safe enough to freely express themselves during counselling sessions takes a great deal of effort. A doctor or counsellor may come in with the right intentions, but if a person doesn’t feel secure enough in that specific environment, they may bottle up and fail to truly accept the support. That said, helping people overcome their minds and flourish is one of the greatest things that can be done to help them thrive. One way to do just that is to ensure that the clinic is a safe space for your client. That feeling of safety can be influenced by a variety of factors, from the layout of the room to your choice of language. Here are some ways to create a safe space in a mental health environment.
Create a Safe Space in a Mental Health Establishment
1. Foster Trust and Privacy
Your client is divulging a lot of heavy and deeply personal issues that they’re harbouring and likely repressing in their daily life. This can be quite heavy mentally and emotionally for them. If you’re a licensed mental health professional like a therapist, you need to ensure that the information they’re sharing is strictly protected and confidential. You should also be able to tell your client the privacy policies in your clinic. This will help them feel assured in their future sessions with you.
When there’s a strong sense of trust, progress can be made and patients can be on a less bumpy road to recovery from their mental illness. Most importantly, it can also make them feel that their deepest feelings don’t get aired out in the open, which is crucial for their continuous treatment.
2. Mind The Furniture Placement
When creating a safe space, a major part of that is the layout of the room. You should see to it that your therapeutic space looks professional, organised, and clutter-free—a reflection of how you want your client to perceive you. But there’s more to designing a safe space than having a clean and put-together office. You want to ensure that the doctor-patient experience is as seamless and convenient as possible.
One way to achieve that is by putting a gap of five feet between your client’s chair and your own. You can also put a desk to act as a barrier. Don’t make the seats face together as it can feel too confrontational, a little bit of space with a slightly off angle would do.
Beyond that, having multiple seating options (such as adding a couch) can help enhance the doctor-patient experience. You may also want to explore mental health furniture from Australia that offers softer and rounder pieces compared to traditional furniture. These can also be a big help in augmenting the safety experience for the client.
3. Use Soft Design Colours
The colour of your room is a big impression setter. If you use bold and bright colours, you can make your space feel too high-energy and loud. However, if you use soft hues, you can help your patients relax and feel at ease at your office.
While neutral colours like white and grey are relatively safe picks, you don’t have to stick with them necessarily. You’re free to choose a palette that can evoke a feeling you want for your patients.
Lighter variations of blue, green, grey, and purple are all good choices that can create a calming and peaceful sensation. They have non-threatening auras that can make people feel safe and less tense.
4. Be Thoughtful With Your Lighting Choices
Another often overlooked but important element that can affect a patient’s frame of mind is the lighting in your room.
Illumination can shape the environment quite drastically and ultimately affect one’s mood. Too little light can make a session feel intimate or intimidating. Too much light can be overwhelming. It’s important to strike a balance when choosing how to light up your room to enhance the environment’s ability to feel like a safe space.
People have varying light sensitivities, but it’s important to have a good amount of warm light illuminating your space. This can evoke feelings of warmness and cosiness and reduce anxiety.
Aside from that, it’s also a good idea to have some natural lighting streaming from the windows. This can make the patient feel connected to the world and not feel so alone.
That said, it’s also necessary to be able to control the flow of light (i.g. Having a blackout curtain) depending on what you may deem appropriate during your therapy sessions. Having these accommodations helps your patients feel safe and navigate their thoughts more effectively.
5. Be Empathic and Inclusive
Moving past the physical aspects of creating a safe space, you need to practice empathy and acceptance when working through your patient’s struggles. You don’t want them to spiral down a path of self-destruction, but you don’t want to outright demean them for their choices. Always remember that you’re dealing with a human who took the big step to trust you to help them through their hardships. As such, when conducting a therapy session with your clients, practice positive and judgment-free language.
The key to getting your clients to open up is for them to feel safe with you first—so be sure to promote that welcoming atmosphere from the moment they walk into your room to the moment they step out. This way, they can feel much more at ease navigating and revealing their mind and emotions, helping both of you make the most out of your therapy sessions.
6. Hide Clutter and Distractions
Another important thing you should do before conducting therapy or counselling sessions with patients is to clear your space of any distractions. Personal items like personal picture frames, moody artworks, and the like can be distracting and even be triggers for your patients. It can get in the way of them undergoing a smooth therapeutic process.
As such, make sure that you review your room and clear any of these potential distractions before conducting any services. This also applies if you’re conducting online services from a home office. By clearing the clutter, your patients can be less distracted by visual stimuli and concentrate on uncovering their own emotions without external influence.
