Which statement best reflects ethical practice for a Peer Support Specialist when supporting safety planning?

• A. Empower the consumer to contribute their own ideas to the plan.
• B. Provide your own personal coping strategies to the consumer.
• C. Dictate the plan and override consumer decisions.
• D. Ignore safety planning and hope for the best.

Answer: (A)

Collaborative, consumer-centered safety planning centers the person’s voice and choices. By empowering the consumer to contribute their own ideas, you honor autonomy, build trust, and create a plan that the person is actually willing and able to use. This approach treats the consumer as an active partner with lived experience, which is foundational to ethical peer support and trauma-informed care.

Sharing your own coping strategies can be useful as a resource, but the plan should primarily reflect the consumer’s preferences and what they find workable in their own life. It should support their goals rather than replace their input or dictate actions.

Dictating the plan and overriding the consumer’s decisions undermines autonomy, damages trust, and contradicts the peer support role.

Ignoring safety planning entirely is unsafe and contrary to standard practice; safety planning is a critical, collaborative step to help prevent harm.