We analyze the excitation of atoms by intense pulsed laser fields and describe a mechanism leading to effective dynamical stabilization at a photon energy below the unperturbed binding energy. At low and intermediate intensities, the atom is left in a coherent superposition of the initial state and a set of Rydberg states which is stable against ionization; this effect subsists for pulse durations presently accessible to experiment. At higher intensities, population is transferred through degenerate Raman coupling to Rydberg states of higher angular momentum.