Enhancing Safety — the “E” in PRACTICE
What is enhancing safety in TF-CBT?
Enhancing safety helps a child build a personal plan for staying safe — identifying trusted adults, recognizing unsafe situations, and knowing what to do and who to tell. It consolidates the coping skills learned in treatment into a concrete plan the child can carry into everyday life.
What this component is working toward
| Objective | How it works | Primary audience |
|---|---|---|
| Build a personal safety plan | Identifying trusted adults and safe next steps | Child & caregiver |
| Teach body-safety and boundaries | Developmentally-appropriate psychoeducation | Child |
| Plan for life after treatment | Consolidating coping skills into a usable plan | Child & caregiver |
Bring enhancing safety to life
Original Skills for Children resources, created by an MSW to bring each TF-CBT skill to life and built on the model’s principles. These are not the official TF-CBT model and don’t replace clinical care — they’re current, practical tools to use alongside it.
♪ Song — “My Plan, My People”
A child-friendly song from When Feelings Get Loud written for this component.
View access options ↗Core model resources
Published by TF-CBT’s developers — tfcbt.org and TF-CBTWeb (MUSC).
The developers publish the model’s core training and materials for every component together. See the From the model developers section on the TF-CBT hub — including TF-CBTWeb training and the official At-A-Glance overview.
Resources for enhancing safety
Free materials from trusted national libraries and trauma centers (NCTSN, UW Harborview, NCA Engage). These organizations are independent of TF-CBT’s developers.
The final part of TF-CBT helps your child name their safe people and make a simple plan for what to do if something feels unsafe — so the skills they built keep working after therapy ends.
About enhancing safety
This page is an evidence-informed educational resource, not clinical advice or a substitute for treatment by a trained TF-CBT therapist. TF-CBT was developed by Cohen, Mannarino, and Deblinger. Resources are linked to their original publishers; Skills for Children does not host proprietary clinical materials. Resources curated by Joshua Fisherkeller, MSW.