There were a few clients for which safety became the topic of the therapy sessions. And I handled this OK, reaching for what clients do to make themselves safe, times in the past when they have had relative safety, or lacked safety, and survived. Underneath all that I was personally worried about my safety as well. I was on the second floor of the building and from time to time I found myself as the only person on that level. The agency provided each therapist with a flashlight with a plastic whistle attached. There was a security guard in the waiting room on the first floor, but he was of the "looking half asleep" variety. I'm not sure how quickly he could respond if needed. We had no discrete panic button or anything.
The whole job seemed a bit "iffy" and for the first two or three days I did not leave anything at the agency just in case I would decide not to come back. But eventually I put personal things on my bulletin board, hung pictures on the wall, and put up curtains. There were more shootings, especially during the hot weather and I did not leave the building except to go to my car. I was hard to have sessions with clients when there was police activity in the streets. But believe it or not, I eventually got to where I could tune it out (mostly).
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