Anxiety
Mapping Physical Safe Zones and Threat Zones
This grid externalizes a client's felt sense of safety and threat in various physical environments.
Some clients experience anxiety as a direct response to their physical environment. A school hallway, a grocery store, or even a particular room in their house can trigger a somatic sense of threat, while other places feel completely neutral or calm. When the client can’t articulate the “why” behind these reactions, it’s difficult to make progress on the feeling itself.
This directive translates that felt sense into a concrete, visual form that you can review together. It helps the client systematically sort their physical environments by their associated feelings of threat or security, moving the experience from an internal state to an external artifact. The client walks away with a clear picture of their own internal geography.
Mapping Physical Safe Zones and Threat Zones
List the physical places you regularly occupy or visit. Include places where you feel at ease, places you dislike, and places you feel neutral about. For each location, complete the columns in the grid below. Use the rating scale provided to score your sense of physical and emotional ease. Be specific about what you see, hear, and smell. Note whether you are typically alone, with people you know, or with strangers.
Rating Scale: 1 (High Threat) to 10 (High Safety)
| Physical Location | Safety/Threat Rating (1-10) | Sensory Details (See, Hear, Smell) | Associated People (Alone, Known, Unknown) |
|---|---|---|---|
Generated with Rapport7 — rapport7.com