S.A.F.E.T.Y Framework

Introduction

When our brain feels threatened, whether by a physical threat or a social/emotional threat, it reacts in a similar fashion to either. This means that if you feel socially or emotionally threatened, your brain responds as if you were physically threatened. The brain networks that are used (i.e., become active) under the threat of physical pain have a large degree of overlap with those used under the threat of emotional or social pain. The bottom line of this is that if someone socially hurts you—for example, they might reject one of your ideas—your brain feels the same as if you were punched! However, while your body can recover from a punch fairly quickly, social/emotional pain tends to last longer and has a more profound impact on your future behavior. 

So, how does the brain decide if something is a threat or a reward? At a nonconscious level, it is constantly scanning for evidence of threats or rewards, and the brain has more circuits to detect threats than it does to detect rewards. An example of a reward might be a smile or a thank you. An example of a threat might be a grimace or a rejection of an idea. 

The S.A.F.E.T.Y. Model addresses these six domains: Security, Autonomy, Fairness, Esteem, Trust, and You. These five domains are general, apply to all of us, and we all give different importance to each of them.  

The sixth domain, the “Y”, is the domain highly specific to You. It addresses the experiences and aspects that make you unique—for example, your background, values, worldviews, current situation, and plans. 

For more information on this kindly refer to the S.A.F.E.T.Y resource sheet in the materials and reach out to https://brainleadership.com/