“Safe spaces,” which are places free of conflict and prejudice, have sparked conversation in recent years. Building a safe environment for people to express their emotions and concerns is a skill worth building. Here are five tips to help you create a safe space in your community.
1. Address each individual in the group.
Although safe spaces generally support groups of people, supporting individuals is important too. Asking each person about their day one by one can help show your group that every voice matters, while also respecting group dynamics.
Try to make sure that you don’t overlook anyone in your group. Remind the group to respect other’s unpopular opinions, as long as they’re voiced gently. Also, ensure that you accommodate others’ needs and preferences as well as possible so that the group is as physically and emotionally accessible to as many people as possible.
2. Ask the group what will make your space safe for them.
Even well-intentioned people can make mistakes in building a safe space if they don’t speak to those who will use the space. For example, allies of transgender people can make the mistake of legitimizing a gender binary or claiming that transgender people were “born that way” when the realities of a transgender identity may be more complex. If your safe space is for people with disabilities, understand that the disability community often prefers self-identifying as “disabled” to using terms like “special needs.” And if your group focuses on race, know that you need to “see color” to make your group feel safe to discuss their racial identities. When you do your research on the community you hope to bring together and ask group members what makes them feel safe, your group will feel much more comfortable to open up.
3. Stay open to new perspectives.
When you create a safe space, you’ll likely encounter viewpoints that differ from your own. You may instinctively want to laugh at, fight, or deny these perspectives, but for everyone to feel safe to dialogue, stay as neutral as possible. Remember that everyone has different backgrounds, and their pasts inform their perspectives. Try to rein in your immediate reactions, ask group members for clarification, and stay as calm as possible when you disagree with others.
4. Show your group who you are.
This may seem counterintuitive, given that a safe space is supposed to be about making other people feel comfortable. However, if you let people know some basic things about you, like what sports teams you like or what your favorite hobbies are, then they might see you as an approachable person rather than as an intimidating, emotionally flat leader. If your interests reflect a desire for social justice or might resonate with group members, you can more easily open the floor to conversation.
There’s a fine line to self-disclosure, though, especially if you create a safe space in a professional or therapeutic setting. Make sure that anything you share reflects professional boundaries. Still, selective self-expression can help in developing both trust and open communication.
5. Keep your principles consistent.
You might not be able to “prove” to people in your safe space that your beliefs are consistent, but if you make inclusion principles part of your everyday life, then making others feel safe will come more naturally to you over time. Keep learning about the groups that you hope to support, and respect any feedback that group participants provide you. You can also open your group by discussing which causes you support, like Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights, or women’s rights, and share how you advocate and why those issues matter to you. This will show your group that you care deeply about helping others and respect the movements that matter to your group. Keep some symbols of allyship, like the Black Lives Matter symbol or the Pride flag in the safe space so that your group knows that you respect their identities.
Creating a safe space may feel daunting, but once you understand who you aim to support and why, the process becomes a bit easier. Stay open to new perspectives, be as inclusive as possible, and respect your participants’ identities. When you do, they’ll know that you’re a safe person who truly wants to make them feel heard.
Featured Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash.
