Resourcing in EMDR Therapy: What It Is & Why It’s Important
Before diving into the distress of past events, EMDR therapy prioritizes building your psychological toolkit. Learn about resourcing: practices that soothe the nervous system and train the brain to access positive states.
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a powerful brain-body therapy for healing trauma. Trauma is any experience that overwhelms our ability to cope and impacts our sense of safety. It may be a single event, a series of events, or a chronic pattern of experiences. Trauma can impact every cell of our being – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
The story does not end there, though.
Trauma does not have to stay stuck in the mind, body, and soul. It is possible to transform post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth. EMDR is designed to rewire the way your brain processes and stores painful memories. It doesn’t erase the past, but it allows you to rewrite its impact.
Once a memory is processed through EMDR, you’ll notice a scar instead of a wound. The experience is still a part of your history, but it no longer hurts to touch.
The effects of EMDR can be life-changing. In this intricate process of brain-body healing, timing is everything.
Before diving into the distress of past events, EMDR prioritizes building your psychological toolkit. That’s where resourcing comes in.
What is resourcing?
Resourcing is the first step of EMDR therapy. It’s about:
regulating the nervous system
developing a secure home base within yourself
training the brain to access neutral & positive states
The purpose of resourcing is to build your window of tolerance. This concept, popularized by Dr. Dan Siegel, refers to the range of psychological arousal within which you can function effectively. It’s also referred to as the “window of presence” and “window of regulation.” When we’re in the window, we are present, aware, and connected to ourselves.
When dealing with trauma, we often find themselves outside this window, either in a state of hyper-arousal (intense anxiety, flashbacks) or hypo-arousal (numbness, dissociation). Resourcing trains the nervous system to stay within this window, even when revisiting difficult memories.
What does resourcing look like?
EMDR therapy uses various techniques to cultivate your inner resources. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Because each brain and body are unique, resourcing practices are personalized to you and your needs.
If you have a visual imagination, your resources might have a visual component. If you have aphantasia (meaning you can’t picture things in your mind), your resourcing practices can focus on other senses – such as sound, smell, touch, or the feelings and sensations in your body.
Resourcing practices include:
Installing a Positive State
Notice how you feel now, and ask yourself how you would like to feel. Confident? Happy? Playful? Relaxed? Now, think of a time when you felt that way, and focus on that memory. Remember where you were, what you were wearing, what the weather was like, and all the little details that make this scene come alive.
The neurons that fire together, wire together – so as you recall positive experiences, you’re deepening neural pathways that activate these positive states. You’re reminding your nervous system that hope and joy are places that you can visit. With practice, the neural pathways that lead to these places can become well-worn trails.
Visiting a Calm Place
Many of us have places that we retreat to for peace and relaxation, whether it’s a spot in nature or a favorite room in the house. EMDR therapy invites you to visit these places within your imagination. You might close your eyes and remember the sights, sounds, and smells of this place. Or you might look at a photo and feel calm energy washing over you.
However you choose to access your calm place, the act of imagining and remembering creates a felt experience in the body. With each visit to this psychological sanctuary, your window of tolerance expands. States of calm become more familiar, more ingrained, and more integrated in your brain and body.
Remember: imagination has no rules and no limits. Your calm place resource does not have to be a place that you’ve actually visited. It could be a fantasy world that you’ve read about; a picture you’ve seen on a postcard; or an ecosystem or town that intrigues you. The possibilities are endless.
Putting Distressing Energy into a Container
Imagine you’ve just glanced at your phone and skimmed a text message (those dreaded words, We need to talk…). You feel a surge of panic. But you’re headed to a doctor’s appointment and don’t have time to read the message, much less process and respond to it. You enter the doctor’s office in a daze, your brain still ruminating on the text, barely aware of your surroundings.
In moments like these – when your mind is consumed by distress but your attention is needed elsewhere – you can visualize a container. Any container; whatever your imagination comes up with. Mason jar, fish bowl, storage unit, tupperware, cardboard box, suitcase, treasure chest…
Send distressing energy (mental snapshot of the text message, the thoughts and emotions it brings up) into the container. Let the container hold it for you. Put the container somewhere it won’t bother you. On a shelf, buried underground, in a locked room, at the bottom of the ocean… whatever makes sense to you.
You will return to the container and process its contents at a later point. Maybe in a few hours, maybe at your next therapy session. Just not now.
CLICK HERE FOR A GUIDED CONTAINMENT PRACTICE
Containment is a way to manage overwhelm and be intentional about where we place our attention.
It’s not meant to suppress difficult emotions forever, or to pretend that bad things are not happening. All closed containers are eventually re-opened, when we have the time and space to engage with its contents.
The container practice is used at the end of EMDR sessions to transition out of distressing material.
And if visualizing a container doesn’t do it for you, try an actual physical container, like a box. Write down distressing thoughts on a piece of paper, and place the paper in the box. Feel the satisfaction of closing the box and putting it away, out of sight and out of mind.
Meeting an Inner Ally
You might connect with an inner ally: a supportive presence that exudes care and compassion. Your inner ally may be a person, animal, plant, spiritual entity, ancestor, or fictional character. They might be nurturing, protective, wise, playful, or any other qualities you wish to embody. Your inner ally is a part of you, after all. The more you connect with their presence, the more you feel their qualities within yourself.
You might call on different allies for different situations. For example:
a superhero for when you feel disempowered
a future version of yourself, or an ancestor’s presence, for when you need perspective and wisdom
a grounding oak tree for when you feel overwhelmed
your childhood pet dog for when you need unconditional love
Some days, you might work with a team of allies. As always, let your imagination lead. Embrace the creativity of this practice to make it work for you.
Wrapping it up: why is resourcing so important?
Resourcing is more than just a feel-good exercise. It’s an essential foundation for EMDR therapy. Here’s why.
Increased Safety & Comfort: Resourcing teaches you how to come back to your window of tolerance. You develop skills to feel intense emotions without becoming flooded. You learn how to navigate your inner world with greater ease and trust.
Deeper Processing: When you feel present and grounded, your brain is more receptive and available for healing work. You can go deeper, faster.
Confidence: Learning resourcing skills is empowering. You realize your own agency in regulating your nervous system. You feel more confident about the next steps of your healing journey.
Thriving beyond EMDR: The skills and resources you develop in EMDR extend beyond therapy. They become a psychological toolkit that you carry with you everywhere you go.
If you’re ready to explore resourcing & healing through EMDR therapy, let’s connect.
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About the Author
I’m Liz Zhou, a holistic trauma therapist (MA, LPCC, she/her). My work integrates teachings from psychology, neurobiology, multicultural awareness, and spirituality. I provide compassionate therapy for highly sensitive people across Colorado.
