The Beach Safety Hierarchy Assessment Scale (BSHAS) is a proposed 25-item self-report instrument measuring five hierarchical levels of relational safety in trauma-affected intimate partnerships. Drawing on polyvagal theory (Porges, 2011), structural dissociation theory (van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006), and the author's eight-year observational experience as the intimate partner of a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the BSHAS operationalizes a five-level safety hierarchy: Physical Safety, Emotional Safety, Relational Safety, Integrative Safety, and Transcendent Safety.
Each level reflects a distinct autonomic and relational threshold that must be met before higher-order therapeutic and relational work becomes possible. The instrument is designed for use with trauma-affected partnerships in which one or both partners carry diagnoses including PTSD, Complex PTSD, or Dissociative Identity Disorder. The BSHAS addresses a gap in the existing assessment literature: no validated instrument currently measures the specific graduated relational safety conditions that polyvagal theory predicts are necessary for trauma-organized nervous systems to engage in relational repair and integration.
This paper describes the instrument's conceptual development, item construction, factor structure rationale, and preliminary psychometric evaluation. The BSHAS is offered as a proposed instrument for clinical and research use, with formal psychometric validation ongoing.