> ## 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.
# Container
> Phase 2 container exercise — design a strong, sealable, openable place to put distressing material between sessions.
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:
| Section | What you capture |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Design the container** | Description, material, where it's stored when sealed, how it opens |
| **Test and install** | Solidity check, BLS sets, cue word, stressor test, self-cue test |
| **Notes** | Optional 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](/emdr/setting-up-an-emdr-session)
— 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.
## Related articles
The Phase 2 companion. Used to regulate before processing, and as
refuge during incomplete-session closure.
The bilateral-stimulation surface. Where the installation BLS sets
actually run.