Skip to main content
The container is the second Phase 2 resource alongside the calm place. The client designs a container — strong, sealable, openable — that holds distressing material between sessions or when processing surfaces more than the session can hold. The clinical point is deferral, not repression. The container always opens again. This template captures the container’s design, the installation BLS, and the cue word.

​
What the template covers

Three sections:
SectionWhat you capture
Design the containerDescription, material, where it’s stored when sealed, how it opens
Test and installSolidity check, BLS sets, cue word, stressor test, self-cue test
NotesOptional record of what was placed (for clinical reference only)

​
When to use it

  • Phase 2 — often the same session as the calm place. The two pair as the standard Phase 2 prep set.
  • As closure — at the end of every processing session, the client places anything unfinished into the container. This is the standard EMDR closure step.
  • Between sessions — when distressing material surfaces outside session, the client uses the cue word to place it in the container until next session.
Three clinical rules apply to the container — read them before introducing the technique with a client.
  1. Feelings do not go in the container — the things feelings are about do. Feelings are felt and worked with; the situations and memories that produce them get deferred.
  2. Parts of self do not go in the container. Placing parts of self is dissociative and harmful. If the client wants to “put myself away,” use the calm place instead and reassess dissociative presentation.
  3. The container must be openable. It is not disposal. It is storage. If the client describes a container that can’t open, work with them to redesign it before installation.
These rules aren’t enforced by the form — the template won’t reject inappropriate entries. You apply them in conversation. The template description carries the rules so they’re visible to any clinician who opens the worksheet.

​
How to launch it

In the EMDR Workspace or from the templates picker, search “container.” Fill the worksheet top-to-bottom as you work through the design and installation. The BLS itself runs in the EMDR Workspace — capture the set count in the Test and install section once the sets are done.

​
Field-by-field

​
Design the container

  • Container description — large text field. The client builds the container in their imagination. Strong, sealable, openable. Encourage detail: what does it look like, how big is it, what does it weigh.
  • Material — what the container is made of (steel, stone, wood, glass-with-thick-walls). Material that feels strong to the client.
  • Storage location — where the container goes when sealed (locked room, vault, deep water, somewhere far away).
  • Open mechanism — how the container opens later. Key, dial, voice, hand. The client controls the opening — it’s not automatic.

​
Test and install

  • Solidity check — boolean. Before installation, the client confirms the container feels solid and trustworthy. If they say no, return to design.
  • BLS sets completed — integer. Short slow sets (4–8 passes), same pacing as the calm place installation.
  • Cue word — a single word or short phrase the client uses to access the container.
  • Tested with stressor — boolean. Did the client use the cue word to place a current stressor inside? Did the container hold?
  • Self-cue tested — boolean. Can the client access the container without your prompt?

​
Notes

  • What was placed — large text field, optional. Used as a clinical reference if you want to track what the container held over time. This is not the client’s record — the client doesn’t need a list of what’s in their container.

​
Container vs. calm place

The two Phase 2 resources have different jobs.
  • Calm place is a refuge — the client goes there to feel calm.
  • Container is storage — the client puts material there to defer it.
A session that runs out of time before the target is desensitized typically uses both: the client puts the unfinished material into the container (deferral) and then visits the calm place (regulation) before the session ends. The two together are the standard incomplete- session closure.

​
Citation

  • Wildwind, L. (1998). Original container protocol attribution.
  • Murray, K. (2011). “Container.” Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 5(1): 29–32.
  • Shapiro, F. (2001, 2018). Phase 2 framework. Guilford Press.
The protocol is published clinical method. Rivet’s field labels are original.

Calm place

The Phase 2 companion. Used to regulate before processing, and as refuge during incomplete-session closure.

The EMDR Workspace

The bilateral-stimulation surface. Where the installation BLS sets actually run.