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Safety plan template

A printable, fill-in-the-blanks safety plan you can complete on this page, print, and keep with you. Six steps, no account, no sign-in, nothing sent anywhere.

This template is based on the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention, the most widely used safety plan format in U.S. psychiatry. It should be completed with a clinician when possible. If you can't reach a clinician, 988 counselors can help you build one.

Privacy. Your entries aren't stored, transmitted, or logged. Closing this page erases them. There's no analytics tracking on any field input on this page. To keep a copy, use the Print button below and either print on paper or save as PDF.

To save as PDF: click Print, then in the print dialog choose "Save as PDF" as the destination.

1. Warning signs

Thoughts, feelings, situations, or behaviors that tell me a crisis may be developing.

2. Internal coping strategies

Things I can do on my own to take my mind off the thoughts.

3. People and settings for distraction

Specific people and places that help.

4. People I can ask for help

Specific names and phone numbers.

5. Professionals and agencies

Therapist, psychiatrist, local emergency department, 988 Lifeline.

6. Making the environment safer

Steps to reduce access to means.

What this template is

The Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention is a brief, six-step written plan developed by Barbara Stanley and Gregory Brown. It's the most widely used safety plan format in U.S. psychiatry, and is recommended by the VA/DoD, SAMHSA, and The Joint Commission as a standard step after a positive suicide screen. In a randomized study of suicidal patients seen in Veterans Affairs emergency departments, the intervention plus structured follow-up was associated with about half the rate of suicidal behavior over six months compared with usual care (Stanley et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2018).

The plan is read top to bottom during a moment of rising suicidal thoughts. The early steps are things a person can do alone. The middle steps add other people. The later steps add clinicians and emergency services. The final step lowers access to lethal means, which is the step with the strongest standalone evidence in suicide prevention research.

How to use it

Complete the six steps above with as much specific detail as possible. Names, phone numbers, addresses, and short scripts are more useful than general categories. Print the completed plan, keep one copy where you can find it during a crisis (wallet, phone case, near the bed, on the refrigerator), and share a copy with at least one trusted person. Review and update the plan every few months and after any crisis.

Related pages

Sources

  • Stanley B, Brown GK. Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2012;19(2):256-264.
  • Stanley B, Brown GK, Brenner LA, et al. Comparison of the Safety Planning Intervention With Follow-up vs Usual Care of Suicidal Patients Treated in the Emergency Department. JAMA Psychiatry. 2018;75(9):894-900.
  • 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org.
  • Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM). sprc.org.

Reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA. Last reviewed March 15, 2026.

Every clinical page on DepressionResource.org is written in plain language, dated, and reviewed by a board-certified psychiatrist against current clinical guidelines. See our editorial standards and medical review process.