Depression · Safety

Crisis Plan vs Safety Plan

Two documents, two jobs

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A safety plan is what a client uses in the moment a suicidal or self-harm crisis builds. A crisis plan is the wider agreement about what happens if that fails — who is contacted, what care is escalated to, and what the client wants decided in advance. Most clients need both, and confusing them is why plans stall at step 5.

Safety plan

Client-held, one page, used alone in the first minutes of a crisis. Six prioritised steps from internal coping to professional contact. Written in the client's words.

Crisis plan

Shared with the care team and often family. Covers escalation, preferred and refused interventions, medication, who to call, and what has helped or harmed in previous admissions.

Relapse prevention plan

Longer horizon. Early warning signs and the maintenance routine that keeps the client well — not built for acute use.

No-suicide contract

A promise not to act. No evidence of effectiveness, and it can suppress disclosure. Not a substitute for either plan above.

Side by side

Question

Safety plan

Crisis plan

Rows worth filling in with the client: who holds it · when it is opened · who else has seen it · what it asks the client to do · what it asks other people to do.

What this client already has

A one-page safety plan the client carries or has photographed
A crisis plan the care team and any involved family have seen
An agreed means-restriction arrangement with a named holder
Out-of-hours contacts written down, not looked up
A stated preference about hospital admission, recorded in advance
A review date for both documents

Advance preferences — decided while well

What has helped in previous crises

What has made previous crises worse

Who should be contacted, by role or initials

Who should not be contacted, and why

How confident I am that this plan would be followed (0-10)

none

most

Keep them separate documents

A safety plan folded into a longer crisis plan stops being usable in the first minutes of a crisis, which is the only window it exists for. Keep the six steps on one page the client holds, and keep escalation and advance preferences in the shared document.

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About this worksheet

A safety plan is what a client uses in the moment a suicidal or self-harm crisis builds: one page, client-held, six prioritised steps, written in their own words. A crisis plan is the wider agreement about what happens if that fails — who is contacted, what care is escalated to, which interventions the client wants and refuses, and what has helped or harmed in previous admissions. This worksheet sets the two side by side alongside a relapse prevention plan (longer horizon, early warning signs and maintenance routine, not built for acute use) and a no-suicide contract (a promise not to act, no evidence of effectiveness, and capable of suppressing disclosure). It then audits what this client actually has, and records advance preferences while they are well: what has helped in previous crises, what has made them worse, who should be contacted by role or initials, who should not be and why, and how confident the client is that the plan would be followed.

When to use it

Care planning and multi-agency work where several documents are in play.
Clients with previous admissions, where advance preferences carry real weight.
Step-down from inpatient or intensive outpatient care.
Termination planning, where the relapse prevention plan and the safety plan are often conflated.
Any point where a client says they 'already have a plan' and it turns out to be a different document.

How to use it

1
Establish which documents exist first
Clients frequently report having a plan when what they have is a discharge summary or a relapse prevention sheet.
2
Keep them as separate documents
A safety plan folded into a longer crisis plan stops being usable in the first minutes of a crisis, which is the only window it exists for.
3
Record advance preferences while the client is well
What helped and what harmed in previous crises is the most useful information in the file and the hardest to gather during one.
4
Name who should not be contacted
Omitting this is how well-meaning escalation makes a crisis worse.
5
Rate confidence that the plan would be followed
Anything under 7/10 is a plan that needs problem-solving, not filing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a crisis plan and a safety plan?+

A safety plan is client-held, one page, and used alone in the first minutes of a crisis — the six Stanley-Brown steps in the client's own words. A crisis plan is shared with the care team and often family, and covers escalation, preferred and refused interventions, and who to contact. Most clients need both.

Does a client need both?+

Usually yes, especially with any history of admission. They do different jobs and are used by different people at different points.

Where does a relapse prevention plan fit?+

Longer horizon: early warning signs and the maintenance routine that keeps the client well. It is not built for acute use and should not replace a safety plan.

Are no-suicide contracts ever appropriate?+

No. There is no evidence they reduce suicidal behaviour, and asking for a promise can make a client less willing to disclose.

Is this worksheet free?+

Yes. Free printable PDF. Sign in to send as a secure client link.