We feel safe based on cues that we get from our environment. Safety is not the removal of threat; it comes from the cues we receive.

The theory provided an understanding of how risk and threat shift physiological state to support defense. Moreover, and perhaps most important, the theory explains how safety is not the removal of threat and that feeling safe is dependent on unique cues in the environment and in our relationships that have an active inhibition on defense circuits and promote health and feelings of love and trust (e.g., Porges, 1998). (Location 676)