Suicide Safety Plan Template: Printable 6-Step Worksheet

This page is a safety plan template you can print for a client, and a guide to using it well. The worksheet follows the six steps of the Safety Planning Intervention developed by Barbara Stanley and Gregory Brown. It is written in TranqBay's own words, for your client to fill in using theirs. It is not the official Stanley-Brown form: if your setting uses that one, the section on the Stanley-Brown safety plan PDF below links to it and its terms of use.

After the worksheet comes the part for you: what the research shows, how to build the plan with a client, how to talk about lethal means, a finished example, follow-up, and documentation.

A safety plan is one part of care for a client at risk of suicide. It comes after a risk assessment and never replaces one. It doesn't replace crisis care, a higher level of care, or your clinical judgment. Follow your training, your setting's risk policy and your state's rules.

Every client in this article is invented. Any resemblance to a real person is a coincidence.

If you are thinking about suicide, or worried about someone, right now: in the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Outside the US, call your local emergency number or crisis line.

How to print this page or save it as a PDF

On a computer: press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
On a phone: open your browser's share menu and choose Print.
To keep a PDF: in the print window, choose "Save as PDF" as the printer. You can then send the file to a client or keep it with your handouts.
To print only the worksheet: check the print preview for the pages from "Safety plan worksheet" to "End of the safety plan", and enter just those pages as the page range.
If the cookie notice is still open, choose an option first, so it doesn't print across every page.
Print two copies in session: one for your client to keep, and one for the client's record.

Safety plan worksheet

My safety plan

This plan is a list of steps for when things start to feel very bad. Start at step 1 and keep going down the list until you feel safer. You don't have to finish one step before trying the next, and you can jump to any step at any time.

My name: ______________________
Date we made this plan: ______________________
Made with (my therapist): ______________________
Date we will look at it again: ______________________

If I am not safe right now

If I might act on thoughts of suicide, or I have already hurt myself, I skip the steps and get help now:

In the US: call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Veterans: call 988 and press 1.
Call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room.
Outside the US, my local emergency number: ______________
Outside the US, my local crisis line: ______________

Step 1. Signs that a hard time is starting

What I notice in my thoughts, feelings, body or behavior when things begin to get worse. For example: "I stop answering texts," "I can't sleep," "I think nothing will ever change."

________________________________
________________________________
________________________________

Step 2. Things I can do on my own

Things that calm me down or take my mind off it for a while, without needing anyone else. For example: a walk, a cold shower, a playlist, a grounding exercise.

________________________________
________________________________
________________________________

How likely I am to do these when things are hard (0 to 10): ______
What could get in the way, and what I'll do instead: ______________

Step 3. People and places that help take my mind off things

People I can be around, or places I can go, where I feel a little better. I don't have to tell anyone how I feel.

Person: ______________ Phone: ______________
Person: ______________ Phone: ______________
Place I can go: ______________________
Place I can go: ______________________

Step 4. People I can ask for help

People I trust enough to tell that I'm struggling and need help.

Name: ______________ Phone: ______________
Name: ______________ Phone: ______________
Name: ______________ Phone: ______________
What I can say to them: "________________________________"

Step 5. Professionals and crisis lines

My therapist: ______________ Phone: ______________
When my therapist isn't available, I will: ______________
Another professional (doctor, psychiatrist, case manager): ______________ Phone: ______________
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org
Nearest emergency room: ______________ Address: ______________
Emergency in the US: 911
Outside the US, crisis line: ______________

Step 6. Making my surroundings safer

Things I could use to hurt myself in a crisis, and what we agreed to do so they are harder to reach until I'm doing better. My therapist and I wrote down who does what, and by when.

First thing: ______________________
What we'll do, who will do it, and by when: ______________________
Second thing: ______________________
What we'll do, who will do it, and by when: ______________________
How my therapist will know it's done: ______________________

What matters most to me (if I want to write it)

People, pets, plans or beliefs that are reasons to keep going, even on bad days.

________________________________
________________________________
________________________________

Where this plan lives

I keep this plan: ______________________ (for example, in my wallet and as a photo on my phone)
People who have a copy: ______________________
Next time we'll look at it together: ______________________

End of the safety plan

What a safety plan is, and what it isn't

Stanley and Brown describe the Safety Planning Intervention as a brief intervention: a clinician and a client write a short, ordered list of coping strategies and supports that the client can use during a suicidal crisis (Stanley and Brown, 2012). The idea rests on how suicidal crises behave. They tend to rise and fall, sometimes fast. A plan written before the next peak gives the client something concrete to do until it passes.

The developers stress that the intervention is more than the form. On the official site, the steps start with a risk assessment and the story of a recent crisis, and end with a follow-up review of whether the plan helped and what needs changing (Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention).

What a safety plan is not:

Not a no-suicide contract.A contract asks the client to promise not to act on suicidal thoughts. A review of the literature found no empirical support for contracts in clinical practice (Rudd, Mandrusiak and Joiner, 2006). A safety plan gives the client steps instead of a promise. In a small randomized study with 97 soldiers seen for an emergency behavioral health visit, fewer people who made a crisis response plan (a close relative of the safety plan) attempted suicide over six months than people who signed a contract for safety (Bryan et al., 2017).
Not a risk assessment.You assess risk first, with your usual approach. The plan is built on what the assessment finds. If you use the Columbia screener, our C-SSRS screener guide covers which version to use and how to record the result.
Not crisis care or a level-of-care decision.If the assessment shows a client needs emergency evaluation or a hospital, a plan doesn't stand in for that.
Not a one-time form.It is reviewed and revised as long as risk is raised.

What the research shows

Stanley et al., 2018, JAMA Psychiatry.In nine Veterans Health Administration emergency departments, 1,640 adults seen for a suicide-related concern who did not need hospital admission were followed for six months. Suicidal behavior occurred in 3.03% of patients who received the Safety Planning Intervention plus at least two follow-up phone calls, and in 5.29% of those who received usual care. The authors report "45% fewer suicidal behaviors" (odds ratio 0.56), and more than double the odds of attending at least one outpatient mental health visit (Stanley et al., 2018).
Read that study with its limits.It compared sites rather than randomizing patients, the patients were veterans and mostly men, and the intervention included the follow-up calls. The effect belongs to the plan and the follow-up together.
Nuij et al., 2021, meta-analysis.Across six studies with 3,536 participants, safety planning-type interventions were linked to a lower risk of suicidal behavior (relative risk 0.57; number needed to treat, 16). The authors found no significant effect on suicidal thoughts (Nuij et al., 2021).

The practical reading: a safety plan helps people get through a crisis without acting on it. It does not, by itself, make suicidal thoughts go away. Treatment for what drives them still matters.

The six steps of a safety plan

The steps run from things the client can do alone, to other people, to professional help. The client can move to any step at any time. Step 6 is different: it's work you and the client do now, not something saved for the worst moment.

Step 1, warning signs.The thoughts, images, moods, situations or behaviors that tell the client a crisis is starting. Ask: "Think about the last time things got this bad. What was the first thing you noticed?" Push for specifics: "I stay in bed past noon and stop answering my sister" is more useful than "feeling depressed."
Step 2, internal coping strategies.What the client can do alone to get through the moment. Ask: "What has helped, even a little, when you felt like this?" Then test it: "Could you do that at 2 a.m.?" A grounding exercise such as 5-4-3-2-1 often fits here.
Step 3, people and social settings that distract.Being around others without having to talk about the crisis: a coffee shop, the gym, a friend's kitchen, a place of worship. Ask: "Where can you go to be around people?"
Step 4, people to ask for help.People the client would tell they are in crisis. Ask: "Who would you be willing to call and say you're not okay?" Write the phone numbers down now, and practice the words.
Step 5, professionals and agencies.You, your after-hours plan, the client's other providers, the nearest emergency room, and 988. Be honest about your availability. If you don't answer at night, write down what the client does instead.
Step 6, making the environment safer.Reducing access to lethal means, including firearms and medications, for every method the client has thought about and anything at hand. The section on lethal means below covers how.

The official Stanley-Brown site also lists an optional step: identifying reasons for living. The worksheet above includes one, as "What matters most to me."

How to build a safety plan with a client

Do it after the risk assessment, and leave time. A plan squeezed into the last five minutes of a session tends to come out generic.
Start with the story of the most recent crisis. What happened, what the client felt and thought, what made it worse and what made it ease. The warning signs and coping steps come out of that story.
Explain the reason for the plan. Suicidal feelings often peak and then pass, and the goal is to get through the peak safely. In one study of people who survived nearly lethal attempts, about a quarter said less than five minutes passed between deciding and acting (Means Matter, Duration of Suicidal Crises).
Write it in the client's words. Let the client hold the pen if they can. "Walk to the end of Maple Street and back" from the client is stronger than "go for a walk" from you.
Make every item specific. Who, what, where and when. Phone numbers written in now, not "I'll look it up."
Ask how likely each step is, and what could get in the way. No one awake at 3 a.m., a dead phone, a roommate who is part of the problem. If the client rates a step low, change it until they rate it higher.
Decide where the plan lives. A paper copy in a wallet, a photo on the phone, a copy on the fridge. If the client wants a support person to have a copy, ask who, and get written consent before you contact anyone.
Rehearse it once. "Say it's Friday night and you notice the first warning sign. What do you do first? And if that doesn't help?"
Set the next contact before the client leaves. The next session, and a check-in call if risk is raised.
Give the client a copy, and keep one. Note in the record that you did.

Lethal means counseling basics

Harvard's Means Matter campaign defines lethal means counseling as assessing whether a person at risk for suicide has access to a firearm or other lethal means, and working with them, their family and their support system to limit that access until they are no longer at elevated risk (Means Matter, Lethal Means Counseling).

Why it matters:

Many suicide attempts happen with little planning, during a short crisis.
The method affects whether a person lives. In Means Matter's words for clinicians, "the most lethal method of attempt (and death) is firearms, and the most common method of attempt (but not death) is medications" (Means Matter, Recommendations for Clinicians).
About 9 in 10 people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide later (Means Matter). That is why getting someone safely through the crisis matters so much.

How to do it:

Ask every client at risk, whether or not they named a method. Ask about firearms by name, even if the client hasn't mentioned them, and about anything else they have thought about using.
Ask about every home the client spends time in. A partner's place, parents' house, a second home.
Raise firearms without judging gun ownership. For example: "Some people in your situation store their guns away from home for a while, with a relative or a storage place, until things feel better. If there are guns at home, have you thought about something like that?" The conversation is about a short period of higher risk, not about the client's right to own a gun.
Away from home is the safest option. Means Matter lists a trusted relative or friend, a gun shop or range that offers storage, and law enforcement agencies that offer it. State laws can limit temporary transfers, so check yours.
If off-site storage isn't possible: firearms locked unloaded in a safe or lockbox the client cannot open, with the key or code held by someone else, and ammunition locked separately or kept out of the home. Removing a key part and storing it elsewhere is another option. Hiding unlocked guns is not advised.
Medications: dispose of unused and expired medicines, lock up the ones that could cause serious harm, and keep only small amounts on hand. A pharmacist can advise on smaller supplies, such as weekly refills.
Make the plan specific, with names and dates. Who will do what, by when, and how you will know it happened. For example: "Your brother picks up the rifle on Saturday, and you'll text me when it's at his place."
Write it in the plan and in your note, then follow up to confirm it happened.
With an adult client, follow your setting's rules on getting the client's permission before you talk with a family member or support person.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center's online course CALM: Counseling on Access to Lethal Means teaches how to identify who needs lethal means counseling, how to ask, and how to work with clients and families to reduce access. It is written mainly for mental health professionals.

A safety plan example: one invented client's finished plan

Invented client: a 26-year-old graduate student we'll call Dana, in her third session of CBT for depression. She has had thoughts of suicide on some nights since a breakup last month. Her therapist, Dr. Lee, completed a risk assessment first, then built this plan with her. These are the entries Dana wrote, in her words.

Warning signs:"I stop answering my sister's texts." "I lie awake after 1 a.m. replaying the breakup." "I think: nobody would notice if I was gone."
On my own:"Cold water on my face for one minute." "Running playlist on, two laps of the building's hallway." "The 5-4-3-2-1 exercise." She rated these 7 out of 10. Her first choice was a walk outside, until she said she wouldn't go out at 2 a.m., so they changed it to the hallway.
People and places:"The 24-hour diner on Fifth Street, at the counter." "My roommate Jess: watch a show with her." "Text my lab group chat about anything."
People to ask for help:"My sister Ana." "Jess." What she'll say: "I'm not doing great tonight. Can you stay on the phone with me?"
Professionals and crisis lines:"Dr. Lee, weekdays 9 to 5." "Nights and weekends: call or text 988." "The student counseling center's after-hours line." "St. Mary's emergency room," with the address.
Making my surroundings safer:"Leftover pain pills from my knee surgery: Jess and I take them to the pharmacy drop-off on Saturday, and I text Dr. Lee when it's done." "Jess keeps my sleep medication and hands me one each night. I'll ask my doctor about smaller refills." "No guns at my apartment. Dad has a handgun at my parents' house, where I go most Sundays. With my written consent, Dr. Lee will call Dad tomorrow and ask him to keep it locked and unloaded in his safe, with the key on his keychain, until Dr. Lee and I agree I'm doing better. Dr. Lee will tell me how the call went."
What matters most to me:"My sister's baby, due in March." "My dog, Biscuit." "Finishing my degree."
Where it lives:"A photo on my phone, a paper copy in my wallet, and Ana has a copy."

Why this plan works:

Every line is Dana's, so she will recognize it when she needs it.
The barrier came up in the session, not on the first bad night: the walk outside became the hallway.
Both homes were checked. The firearm was at her parents' house, not hers. Asking only about her apartment would have missed it.
The means steps have names and dates, and a way for Dr. Lee to confirm each one at the next session.
The after-hours line is honest. Dr. Lee isn't available at night, and the plan says what Dana does instead.

Follow-up: reviewing and updating the plan

Review the plan at the next session, and every time you review risk. Ask: Did you use it? Which steps did you try? What helped? What got in the way? Revise it and give the client a new copy.
Rebuild it after any crisis, emergency visit or attempt, from the story of what happened.
Use check-in calls between sessions while risk is raised. In the 2018 study, patients were called at least twice to check on risk, review and revise the plan, and support getting into treatment.
Confirm the means safety steps happened. Ask about each one by name.
If a client at raised risk misses a session, reach out promptly, the way your setting's policy says.
Reassess risk at each contact. The plan follows the assessment, not the other way around.
Pass the plan on at transitions, such as a referral or discharge from a higher level of care, with the client's consent.

How to document a safety plan

A good note shows what you asked, what the client said, what you decided and why, and what happens next. Record:

The risk assessment and its findings, in the client's words where you can. The thought content part of a mental status exam is a natural place for this.
Your reading of risk and the reasons for the level of care you chose.
That a safety plan was made, reviewed or revised, and its main steps, or that a copy is in the record.
The lethal means conversation: what you asked, what the client said, what was agreed, who will do it, by when, and how you'll confirm.
How likely the client said they are to use the plan, and the barriers you solved.
Who has a copy, and the consent for sharing it.
The follow-up: check-in calls, the next session, when you'll reassess.

Where it goes in a structured note:

SOAP: what the client said in Subjective, your observations in Objective, your reading of risk in Assessment, and the plan and means steps in Plan. Our SOAP note examples include a telehealth session with a risk screen.
DAP: the questions, the client's answers and the plan you made together in Data, your reading of risk in Assessment, and the follow-up in Plan. Example 3 in our DAP notes examples is a session where the client reports thoughts of death.
For wording, the progress notes cheat sheet has risk and safety phrases.

Avoid "no SI" pasted into every note, "contracted for safety", and "safety plan given" with nothing about what is in it.

A block you can copy into a note and fill in:

Safety plan noteTemplate · 15 parts to fill in

Safety plan note

Date and time: [ ]Format: [in person / video / phone]Client location if telehealth: [address]Emergency contact confirmed: [yes / no]Risk assessment used: [approach or measure]Client's words: [thoughts, plan, intent, history]Risk factors: [ ]Protective factors: [ ]Clinical reading of risk: [and why this level of care]Safety plan: [new / reviewed / revised]Warning signs: [client's words]Coping on their own: [ ]People and places: [ ]People to ask for help: [ ]Professionals and crisis lines: [988, after-hours plan]Means safety: [what, step agreed, who, by when]How it will be confirmed: [ ]Likelihood of use: [0 to 10, barriers solved]Copy given to client: [yes / no]Copy shared with: [name, consent on file]Follow-up: [check-in date, next session]Consultation: [with whom, if any]

Adapting the plan: teens, telehealth and other languages

Teens:bring a parent or caregiver into the means safety step. Means Matter notes that firearms used in youth suicide usually belong to a parent, and suggests speaking with the parent who knows how the guns are stored and makes the decisions about them. Ask about every home the teen stays in, including both parents' homes in a custody arrangement.
Teens, what is shared:decide with the teen what goes on their copy and what parents will hear. Rules on minors' consent and confidentiality differ by state.
Teens, the plan itself:add a school contact, plan for the hours that are hardest, and keep the plan where the teen will actually look: often their phone.
Telehealth, every session:confirm where the client is (an address, not just a city) and an emergency contact at the start of each video session.
Telehealth, emergencies:know how to get help to the client's location. If you dial 911 from your own phone, you reach the dispatch center near you, not the client's, so keep a local emergency number for where the client is.
Telehealth, the paper:read each step aloud and have the client write on paper or in their phone's notes, or send them the link to this page so they can print the worksheet.
Other languages:the official Stanley-Brown form has authorized translations on its site. The 988 Lifeline offers Spanish by call (press 2) or by texting AYUDA to 988, and TTY users can dial 711 then 988 (988 Lifeline, Get Help).
Clients outside the US:988 and 911 are US numbers. Write in the local emergency number and crisis line for where the client lives.

Where to get the official Stanley-Brown safety plan PDF

The official Stanley-Brown Safety Plan, in English and in authorized translations, is on the developers' Forms page. The form itself says individual use is permitted, and that written permission from the authors is required to change the form or to use it in an electronic medical record. The Forms page adds that permission is also needed to translate or adapt it, or to build it into a digital app or website, and gives contacts for permission and for-profit use. The same site lists training in the intervention.

The template on this page is TranqBay's own wording, built on the six published steps. It is not the Stanley-Brown form, and its authors have not reviewed it. If your setting requires the official form, use that one.

How this works in TranqBay

TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice: a practice website, online booking, video sessions, session notes and forms in one place. Here is where safety planning fits.

Screen before the session. TranqBay's form library has ready-made templates you send to a client for a session, including the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. The client fills them in online and the answers wait with the session. TranqBay doesn't score them, so read every item yourself before the session starts, including PHQ-9 item 9, which asks about thoughts of being better off dead or of self-harm. Our PHQ-9 scoring tool adds up the total.
Tell clients that forms aren't an urgent channel. Answers wait for you to read them. When you send a form, say how to get crisis help instead.
Get consent before you call a support person. Use the release of information template to get the client's written consent before you contact the person who will store a firearm or hold medication.
Set the emergency plan up front. Consent to treat and telehealth consent are both in the library. Check that the versions you send say how you handle emergencies and contact between sessions, so clients agree to it before any crisis. Our informed consent example covers what to include.
Video sessions are end-to-end encrypted and run in the browser at your own web address. Confirm the client's location at the start, as above.
Document it in the session note. Notes come in SOAP, DAP, BIRP or GIRP format, or a blank note for the block above. Structured formats are part of the advanced note templates, which some plans include.
HIPAA: TranqBay provides a Business Associate Agreement that applies when you accept the Terms.
The worksheet lives on this page. Print it in session, or send your client the link.

On practice.tranqbay.health you can see how a video session runs in the browser at your own web address and how a session's note sits on its page, before you set anything up.

Frequently asked questions about safety plans

What are the six steps of a safety plan?

Warning signs; internal coping strategies; people and social settings that distract; people to ask for help; professionals and crisis lines, including 988; and making the environment safer, including access to lethal means. The official Stanley-Brown site also lists an optional step for reasons for living.

Is a safety plan the same as a no-suicide contract?

No. A contract asks for a promise not to act, and there is no empirical support that contracts work. A safety plan gives the client concrete steps to take during a crisis, built with a clinician after an assessment.

Is safety planning evidence-based?

Yes, with limits. A large VA emergency department study found fewer suicidal behaviors over six months when the Safety Planning Intervention was paired with follow-up calls, and a meta-analysis of six studies found a lower risk of suicidal behavior. The meta-analysis found no clear effect on suicidal thoughts themselves, so treatment for what drives them still matters.

Where can I get the Stanley-Brown safety plan PDF?

From the Forms page of the official Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention site, in English and authorized translations.

Can I put the Stanley-Brown form in my EHR?

Not without written permission from the authors. The form says permission is required to change it or use it in an electronic medical record, and the site explains how to ask.

Can I use the template on this page with my clients?

Yes. Print it, save it as a PDF, or copy it into your own records. Check it against your setting's policy first, and change anything your setting requires.

Does a safety plan replace a suicide risk assessment?

No. Assess risk first. The plan is built from what the assessment finds, and it never replaces emergency evaluation or a higher level of care when a client needs one.

How often should a safety plan be updated?

At every session while risk is raised, after any crisis or emergency visit, and whenever the client's situation changes, such as a move, a new relationship or a new medication.

Who should have a copy of the safety plan?

The client, first. A copy goes in the record. A support person can have one if the client agrees and you have their written consent to share it.

What if a client won't change access to a firearm?

Stay with the conversation rather than ending it. Acknowledge that it's a hard ask, keep the focus on a short period of higher risk, and look at steps the client will accept: storing it with someone, locking it unloaded with someone else holding the key, or storing ammunition elsewhere. Document what you offered and what the client chose, consult as your setting requires, and reassess risk with that in mind.

What if a client won't make a safety plan?

Ask what gets in the way, and start with one step they are willing to write down, often the warning signs or a person to call. Make sure they have 988 and your after-hours plan either way, and document the refusal, the client's reasons and what you did next. A refusal is part of your risk assessment, not the end of it.

Can someone make a safety plan without a therapist?

Yes. Anyone can fill in the steps alone or with someone they trust, and anyone in crisis can call or text 988. A plan made with a clinician after an assessment, with follow-up, is the version the research has tested.

Before your next session

Print two copies of the worksheet and keep them where you work, practice the firearm question out loud once before you need it, and consider the CALM course if you haven't taken it. A plan you can build calmly with a client is worth more than a perfect form you reach for in a rush.

If you also want booking, video sessions and session notes in one place, see how TranqBay works for private practice: you can look at a practice website template and the booking page your clients would use. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works.

Sources

13 sources

Research 5suicidesafetyplan.com 2hsph.harvard.edu 4sprc.org 1988 Lifeline 1

Research5

suicidesafetyplan.com2

hsph.harvard.edu4

sprc.org1

12Suicide Prevention Resource Center, CALM: Counseling on Access to Lethal Meanssprc.orghttps://sprc.org/resources/calm-counseling-on-access-to-lethal-means/

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline1

13988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Get Help988lifeline.orghttps://988lifeline.org/get-help/

Updated October 25, 2026. Found it useful? Send it to a colleague.