Reflections from an event with Poppy Delbridge and Kate Bright
I recently attended an event in London that brought together two extraordinary women: Poppy Delbridge, energy psychology specialist and founder of Rapid Tapping, and Kate Bright, a private security advisor and founder of UMBRA International Group, whose clients include some of the world’s most high-profile and high-risk individuals.
At first glance, you might wonder what an energetic tapping expert and a former bodyguard might have in common. But within minutes, it was clear: safety, inside and out, is a universal need. Whether you are leading a global organisation, parenting a teenager, or simply trying to stay grounded in today’s chaotic world, emotional safety is not a luxury. It is a foundation.
And for those of us working in the trauma, mental health and wellbeing space, and especially for those who are therapists, that message could not be more timely.
Poppy began the session by inviting us into the body. Hands over heart. Breath. A simple statement: I feel safe within myself.
And then the question: Do you?
Emotional safety is not the end goal. It is the starting point.
Most people do not. Not consistently. Not deeply. And yet, that internal sense of safety is what allows everything else to happen: healing, leadership, connection, creativity.
As Peter Levine has taught us, trauma is not what happens to us, but what happens inside us as a result of what happened. We stay stuck in activation. We lose the felt sense of safety. And as Stephen Porges reminds us, we heal through co-regulation, through safe connection with others. Safety is not just personal. It is relational. And it is biological.
This is why Poppy’s work with Rapid Tapping is so powerful. It is not about bypassing. It is about creating sustainable, daily nervous system care. Small rituals that bring the body out of fight, flight or freeze, and into presence. Into possibility.
The Body Keeps the Score. But it also leads the way.
For me, it was unexpectedly moving to hear both Poppy and Kate reference Bessel van der Kolk’s foundational work. In our field he is so well known. His book is a seminal text in the world of trauma, but it does not necessarily reach leaders in other sectors. People who could really benefit from it.
What got me emotional was seeing the audience take out their phones and make a note of the book. People who did not know before now do. Now they will know that we carry our stories not just in our memories, but in our muscles, our breath and our gut. And if the body keeps the score, it also holds the key.
From the neuroscience of the amygdala to the pulse of ancestral survival codes, this event spoke to a truth many of us in the trauma world already feel. You cannot think your way into safety. You must feel your way there.
This is where body-based tools like tapping, breathwork, somatic tracking and movement come in. As therapists, practitioners and carers, these are no longer optional extras. They are essential.
Community: The missing link
One of the most profound moments of the session came from Kate Bright, someone whose career has been steeped in elite risk management and personal security. She said:
“Before we can even talk about healing, we need to talk about safety. And before safety, we need to talk about community.”
In a world that increasingly isolates, polarises and atomises, this was a reminder of something deeply human. We have always healed in community. We have always found safety in each other. Whether through conversation, creativity, shared practices or simply the presence of another nervous system that says, “You are not alone.”
The trauma field knows this. From Stephen Porges’ social engagement system to Gabor Maté’s work on connection and addiction, we keep coming back to the same truth. We are not meant to heal alone.
That someone like Kate, working at the highest levels of personal protection, is saying this too tells us something is shifting. The trauma-informed lens is expanding into sectors we never imagined. And that gives me hope.
The science, the spirit and the soul
This event was a dance between data and intuition. Between neuroscience and energy. Between boundary setting and vibrational openness. As Poppy said:
“You are not here to just survive. You are here to expand.”
But you cannot expand without safety. And you cannot feel safe if your nervous system is locked in survival mode. That is why this conversation matters, not just for therapists, coaches and wellness professionals, but for everyone leading in today’s world.
The collaboration between Poppy and Kate shows what is possible when we break out of our silos and start thinking holistically. Safety is not just physical. It is emotional, digital, reputational. And ultimately, it is relational: to ourselves, to others, to the world around us.
In a time of disconnection, connection is the medicine
This event reminded me why we do what we do. It reminded me of the Master Events in Oxford, where thought leaders like Bessel van der Kolk, Stephen Porges, Gabor Maté, Poppy Delbridge, and so many others have come before and will come again this year to remind us that healing is both a science and an art.
It is as much about belonging as it is about biology.
And as we face a future filled with uncertainty, it is emotional safety, not perfection, that will carry us forward. Safety that is grounded, flexible and fiercely compassionate.
So today, take a moment. Place a hand on your heart. Breathe. Say it again:
“I feel safe within myself.”
Even if it is only one percent true.
That is where it starts.
