Content Note: This article contains no paid content, sponsorships, or promotional material and contains references to domestic abuse. If at any point you feel watched or unsafe, you can use the green button to exit the site quickly
Author - Sahar Moodi | |MA in Family Counselling
These days, I spend my free time watching the romantic series Off Campus. At first glance, it might come acrossas shallow and trivial, but if you look deeper, there are nuanced details to be found. The series isabout two students who are studying and struggling with their own life challenges.
Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham, both studying while struggling with the complexities of their own lives. To build suspense in the series, it isn’t made entirely clear at the beginning what those problems are — though there are subtle clues scattered throughout.
From Garrett’s Perspective
He doesn’t want a girlfriend — some might depict him as your typical “player”, but when you look closer, the audience realises that this isn’t the case. Various family issues have made it difficult for him to form connections.
From Hannah’s Perspective
The young girl, however, is deeply cautious; unable to engage in intimacy with men because of her past experiences with other people, which have caused tremendous trauma. She cannot risk being vulnerable or opening herself to love — there is simply too much at stake.
Differences Created Connection
What emerges is this: they are shaped by the same wound, but in opposite directions. His fear is becoming the danger; hers is being hurt again. These mirrored protections keep them from meeting each other relationally. But as the series unfolds, they learn to hold their differences with compassion, and in that space, they begin facing their fears side by side. Others come and go, but no one soothes the ache the way they do for each other.
When Connections Form
In building that connection, what’s really happening in the formation of their bond, and what makes it grow so steadily strong?
At the beginning, the relationship appears almost transactional: two people working toward a shared goal. From there, a negotiation and an agreement emerge — a mutual decision to help one another. As this continues, the transactional element gradually moves into the background, and something more emotional begins to form.
They start to see the realness in each other. Because there are no heavy relational expectations to uphold, there is less fear of disappointing or upsetting the other person. Without that pressure, neither person is weighed down by the burden of performing a role.
From this freedom, the authentic parts of each person come forward, and the bond strengthens. There’s something to be said about this kind of interaction when we think about the relationships we hold in life.
Finding Safety In Therapy
The dynamic of the couple was so powerful and resonated with me, especially in my work with victims of domestic abuse and violence who have never had someone they could call safe or confide in. I discovered that therapy can offer the safest possible space for people to engage with another person who may become a stepping stone toward finding connection in the outside world.
The type of therapy that I offer, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), involves being in the presence of another human who facilitates the most important element of therapy: safety. It doesn’t always matter at first if someone doesn’t know how therapy works — that understanding comes with time. What matters is that the fundamental foundations of the therapeutic relationship are already present and central to the work.
It is within this facilitative space that clients finally have the chance to process and resolve their emotions with someone who genuinely cares.
Do you Have a Safe Person?
In your life, do you have a safe person? A parent, relative, teacher — someone who sees your worth and reminds you that you are precious. In the series, two people find their safe person in one another.
A safe person can be anyone in your life: a parent, relative, teacher, or someone who truly sees you and reminds you of your value.
Off Campus beautifully depicts how two people overcome their fears, anxieties, and traumas and become safety for each other. It may not happen as quickly in real life as it does on screen, but it demonstrates the key components of holding someone who trusts you. In the modern world, it can be a rare and valuable experience for someone to offer that level of presence and care.
A Simple Five‑Minute Exercise To Find Your Safe Person
Here’s a short exercise to help you visualise and bring to mind either a safe person, place or both which may help you go out and find someone who has the qualities that you may be looking for which may come up for you within the exercise.
- Find a quiet space - Choose somewhere you naturally feel safe — indoors or outdoors — and allow yourself to settle.
- Notice the feeling of safety - Bring gentle awareness to what safety feels like in your body. Close your eyes if that feels okay, and let your breath slow down.
- Recall someone or something safe - Think of a person, a pet, or a place from your past or present that helps you feel calm and protected. Hold that image lightly in your mind.
- Picture it in detail - If it’s a person, notice their face, voice, or the feeling of being with them. If it’s a place, imagine the colours, sounds, textures, and atmosphere.
- Let your body respond - Notice any softening — your shoulders lowering, your breath easing, your jaw loosening. Stay with that sense of safety for a few moments.
- Allow space if nothing comes - If you can’t think of anyone or anything right now, that’s completely okay. Safety takes time, and it’s something you can explore with your therapist.
Conclusion
In Emotionally Focused Therapy, healing often happens in safe relationships. A safe person cannot erase what happened to us, but they can help us face difficult emotions and experiences in a different way.
Sometimes healing starts with just one person who stays, listens, and reminds us that we matter. Maybe that is why this series stayed in my mind.
Editor - Benjamin Wright | Counselling Practitioner & Counselling Supervisor | Wright Counselling & Supervision Service
Nottinghamshire | South Yorkshire | United Kingdom