123: Safe Enough: When Safety Doesn’t Feel Safe with Jackie Flynn

Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.

Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you’re EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.

 

In this episode of the EMDR Playground Podcast, Jackie explores the concept of “safe enough” and why, for many trauma survivors, safety itself can feel unfamiliar, vulnerable, or even threatening.

 

Drawing from Polyvagal Theory and the work of Stephen Porges, Jackie reflects on how the nervous system learns survival through adaptation and protection, and how healing often begins not with perfect safety, but with experiences that feel safe enough for connection, curiosity, and regulation to emerge.

 

In this conversation, Jackie shares her “Safe Enough” cards and the ways animals can teach us about nervous system states, instinct, survival, protection, and co-regulation. Through stories, reflections, and clinical insight, she explores how the natural world mirrors the wisdom of the human nervous system and why accessing safety is such an essential part of trauma healing.

 

This episode invites therapists, parents, and helpers to rethink what safety means, especially for those whose nervous systems learned early that closeness, stillness, or vulnerability were not always safe experiences.

 

 

Topics explored in this episode include:

 

• Why safety may not initially feel safe for trauma survivors

• The concept of “safe enough” in trauma healing

• Polyvagal Theory and nervous system states

• What animals can teach us about survival and regulation

• Protective responses as adaptive nervous system strategies

• Using creative and relational approaches to support felt safety

• The role of co-regulation in EMDR and trauma therapy

 

Resources Mentioned:

“Safe Enough” Cards by Jackie - https://www.innovativechildtherapy.com/p/the-safe-enough-card-deck-966137

Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges