Your EMDR Resourcing Toolkit: A Guide to Grounding and Stability

Welcome to your EMDR resourcing kit! The goal of resourcing is to help you build an internal

foundation of strength and calm that you can access immediately when you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or triggered. These resources are tools we use to help you stay within your Window of Tolerance—the state where you feel regulated and capable of handling challenges.

1. Guided Meditations and Stabilization Techniques

These are direct links to guided exercises you can use to calm your body and mind.

Resource Link	Title and Skill	How It Helps You
Video 1: Peaceful Place Link (Start at 01:26)	Peaceful Place Guided Meditation	Creates an internal sanctuary—a place of deep calm and safety in your mind. By focusing on sensory details (sight, sound, smell), you train your brain to access relaxation when stress arises.
Video 2: The Container Link (Start at 03:40)	The Container For Difficult Emotions	Allows you to temporarily set aside overwhelming feelings, memories, or body sensations until you are ready to process them in session. You imagine placing the difficulty into a secure container that only you control.
Video 3: Grounding & BLS Link (Start at 00:15)	Calm Your Nervous System with Bilateral Stimulation (BLS)	Combines calming nature imagery with Bilateral Stimulation (the side-to-side movement or sound) to promote grounding and stability. Use this when you feel scattered or disconnected.

2. Advanced Resourcing and Coping Strategies

These articles provide a deeper understanding of resourcing and introduce advanced skills for managing high-intensity distress.

Resource Link	Key Concepts Explained	How It Helps You
Article 1: Resourcing Tool Link	Resourcing & Tapping In	Explains the importance of internal resourcing and details various types: Peaceful Place, Supportive Figures, Character Qualities, and The Container. It also teaches how to "Tap In" using BLS (like a Butterfly Hug) to strengthen the resource.
Article 2: Beyond Breathing Link	High-Distress Coping Skills	Provides alternatives for when simple breathing isn't enough. It includes EMDR and ACT techniques like Energy Swirl, Light Stream, Vagal Tone Reset, and Leaves on a Stream for thought diffusion.

3. Essential Guidelines for Selecting Your Resources

To help your resources be as effective and reliable as possible, please keep these considerations in mind, especially when choosing figures to support you.

Safe/Calm Place

Your safe place should ideally be a space that is clearly safe and free of worry.

• Aim to exclude any real people who are currently active in your life. This helps keep the resource purely focused on your internal sense of peace, without being tied to any potential relational complexities.

• We want it to be a location where you feel fully in control of your safety and surroundings.

Supportive Figures (Nurturing, Protective, Wise)

The figures you choose should be a consistently reliable source of support.

Guideline	Why This is Helpful
It is best to avoid close family or current partners.	Using parents, partners, siblings, or anyone with whom you have a close history is not recommended. People are human; they come with history and potential complications. Including them might unintentionally bring up feelings of worry or past disappointments, which could lessen the resource’s power.
Consider Ideal or Fictional Figures.	Ideal figures tend to work best: Fictional characters (superheroes, wise mentors), spiritual figures, or ancestors whose positive qualities are undisputed. This figure needs to represent an unwavering source of support.
Focus on the Pure Quality.	The strength of the resource comes from the pure feeling it embodies (Protection, Nurturance, or Wisdom). By choosing a figure that is simple and unchanging, your mind can access that feeling of support consistently without distraction.

Remember, EMDR is not just about processing difficult memories; it's about strengthening your ability to cope in the present. Taking time to practice these resourcing techniques is one of the most proactive steps you can take to make your therapy effective. These tools are yours to keep—a permanent internal kit for maintaining stability and calm long after therapy concludes. Happy resourcing!