Seeking Safety
Seeking Safety
Seeking Safety is an evidence-based, present-focused counseling model to help people attain safety from trauma and/or substance abuse. Seeking Safety is an extremely safe treatment model as it directly addresses both trauma and addiction, but without requiring clients to delve into the trauma narrative. It can be conducted in a group (any size) and/or individual modality. Seeking Safety was developed in 1992 by Lisa M. Najavits, PhD at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital. Since then, it has been used in many countries and has been translated into numerous languages.
Gabriella Grant is a senior trainer for Treatment Innovations, the organization created by Dr. Najavits to support treatment models including Seeking Safety. Gabriella started working with Dr. Najavits in 2006, when she oversaw a statewide project in California to increase access to domestic violence shelters by women with mental health and/or substance abuse issues. She coordinated the trainings on Seeking Safety and helped guide and evaluate its implementation within domestic violence shelters. Currently, Gabriella conducts Seeking Safety groups at a community level through the California Center of Excellence for Trauma Informed Care.
The Center has a long history of providing drop-in Seeking Safety groups in Santa Cruz for women dealing with domestic violence and/or substance abuse. From March 2020 to October 2020, the Center also provided a free online Seeking Safety group for healthcare practitioners. The Center works with partner agencies to provide Seeking Safety groups in the local community. If you or your agency are interested in working collaboratively with the Center regarding Seeking Safety, please contact the Center via traumainformedcalifornia@gmail.com or call us at 831-607-9835.