> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getrivet.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Calm place > Phase 2 resource installation — build a calm or safe place the client can return to between and within sessions. The calm place is the foundational Phase 2 prep tool in EMDR. Before any trauma processing begins, you build a self-regulation resource the client can return to — a place, real or imagined, paired with sensory detail, emotional tone, body sensation, and a cue word. The resource gets installed with short BLS sets, and the client tests their ability to self-cue. This template captures the structure of that installation. ## What the template covers Five sections, mirroring the protocol's nine steps: | Section | What you capture | | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Image** | The place itself (real or imagined) and an optional name | | **Sensory enhancement** | Sights, sounds, smells, textures | | **Feeling and body sensation** | The emotion that comes up and where the client feels it | | **Cue word** | A single word or short phrase the client uses to access the resource | | **Installation log** | BLS sets completed, self-cue tested, disturbance-test result, notes | The total entry is intentionally short — most of the clinical work is the conversation and the BLS. The worksheet is the durable record. ## When to use it * **Phase 2, session 1 or 2** — after history-taking, before any processing. * **As homework** — between sessions, the client practices self-cuing. * **As a closure tool** — at the end of an incomplete processing session, the client returns to the calm place so the session doesn't end with the target unresolved. * **Periodic re-installation** — refresh the resource if it starts to lose its accessibility. ## A note on the word "safe" Some clients find "safe" triggering — they've never had a safe place, or "safe" carries trauma associations. The template is titled **Calm place** specifically so you have the option of "calm" instead. Shapiro 2018 explicitly acknowledges the same substitution. Use the word the client can use. ## How to launch it In the EMDR Workspace or from the templates picker, search "calm" — the template appears under the EMDR category. The structure follows the protocol order; fill it top-to-bottom as you work through the installation. The bilateral stimulation itself runs in the [EMDR Workspace](/emdr/setting-up-an-emdr-session), independently of this template. Capture the BLS set count in the **Installation log** section once the sets are done. ## Field-by-field ### Image * **Place description** — large text field. A real place or an imagined one. Encourage detail. * **Place name** — optional short name (e.g. "the cabin," "the meadow"). Useful for the client's cue word and for future references. ### Sensory enhancement * **Sights** — what the client sees in the place. * **Sounds** — what they hear (wind, water, a fire, birds, silence). * **Smells** — what they smell (often the most evocative anchor). * **Textures** — what they feel against skin (sun, sand, water, temperature). ### Feeling and body sensation * **Emotion** — short description of the affective tone (calm, peaceful, held, settled). * **Body sensation** — where in the body the client feels the calm. This is the anchor that gets reinforced with BLS. ### Cue word * **Cue word** — a single word or short phrase that captures the place. The client will use this between sessions to re-access the resource. ### Installation log * **BLS sets completed** — integer. Standard practice is short slow sets (4–8 passes) rather than long fast ones. * **Self-cue tested** — boolean. Did the client successfully access the place using only the cue word, without your prompt? * **Disturbance tested** — boolean. Did the client successfully access the place after recalling a mild current stressor? This is the stress test. * **Notes** — anything that didn't fit the structured fields. ## How to read the installation record later When you re-open the worksheet — at the start of the next session, or weeks later when the resource needs refreshing — the structured fields let you pick up where you left off. The cue word and the sensory details are the most important pieces; they're the durable anchors. If **self-cue tested** is unchecked, schedule the test for the next session before any processing begins. If **disturbance tested** is unchecked, the resource isn't yet robust enough to be a Phase 7 closure tool. Test it before relying on it for that purpose. ## Citation * **Daniels, N.** — origin attribution (work with veterans, formalized by Shapiro). * **Shapiro, F.** (1995, 2001, 2018). *Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures.* Guilford Press. Phase 2 calm/safe place protocol documented in all editions. The protocol structure is published clinical method. Rivet's field labels are original — the specific Shapiro scripts are not reproduced. ## Related articles The Phase 2 companion. Used as standard closure at the end of every processing session. The bilateral-stimulation surface. Where the installation BLS sets actually run.