ABSTRACT
Stakeholders simple written descriptions of the meaning to them of the phrase ‘sense of safety’ gave more than expected. Sense of safety seems to be a phrase that could enliven and encourage paradigm change – towards seeing the dynamic whole person in their real world. This ordinary phrase, built over generations of use between people, seems to be a really important part of Humpty’s native tongue, grounded in the senses and in the direction of travel – towards the comfort and courage of safety. So, even under pressure, appraisal of sense of safety can be reliable and accurate and more coherent or integrative than other ways to measure. It seems this ordinary English phrase has a gift within in it – an embodied, integrative way to see the whole. As well as awareness of self, other and context, there were descriptions of an integrative appraisal process – allowing concurrent real-time active attention to the whole.
