Many therapeutic modalities use resourcing when processing trauma, such as visualizing a safe place or safe person. However, psychodrama, created by J. L. Moreno takes it a step further and will have the client concretize the safe place. Instead of having the client visualize the safe place, I ask them to physically create it in part of the therapy room. I use colored pieces of fabric (scarves) for this purpose. For instance, if a client’s safe place is the beach, they may choose blue to represent the water, white for the sand, yellow/orange for the sun, and other colors to represent birds or people. The client will describe the scene of the safe place as they are setting it up. Finally, I have them sit in that space and feel the safety. They can touch the different fabrics, notice the tactile sensations, and have a felt experience of being in that place. This deepens the experience and anchors it in the body. If we think about trauma as being experienced and held in the body, it makes sense then to also have the resource of the safe place experienced in the body. Moreno believed, “the body remembers what the mind forgets.”
Recently I was made aware of a condition called aphantasia, an inability to visualize. Apparently 1% to 3% of the population experience this and are unable to see in their “mind’s eye.” For those individuals, concretizing a safe place can be invaluable in trauma healing.
If you do not have scarves, the client can use whatever is available to create the safe space. Pillows from the couch, books, a throw can just as easily be used to concretize the safe space. In addition, the client can take a photo of their safe space for later reference.
While doing trauma processing, if the client begins to feel overwhelmed, we can pause, and they can physically sit in the safe place. They can then describe what it feels like to be in that space, as the body begins to regulate itself. Lastly, a client may want to step back into to the safe place before ending the session to feel more grounded.
I am a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama so I frequently use experiential activities. I will suggest to a client “let’s try something new, it may seem a little weird.” At first people may be hesitant, however, as they go through the process of describing and setting up the scene, they begin to fully experience it as being anchored in the body and it becomes real to them.
This way of concretizing the safe place can be used as an adjunct for any modality of trauma processing.