What Is Resourcing in EMDR?

What Is Resourcing in EMDR?

Short Answer: Resourcing in EMDR means identifying and practicing things that help you feel calm, steady, supported, or confident. Resources can include a calming image, a positive memory, a supportive person, slow breathing, grounding exercises, or reminders of your own strengths. Resourcing is commonly used during the preparation stage of EMDR, and the resources you develop can also be used later whenever you find them helpful.

Key Takeaways

• Resourcing is commonly part of the preparation stage of EMDR.
• A resource is something that helps you connect with a sense of calm, confidence, support, or stability.
• Resources can include positive memories, calming imagery, supportive people, breathing exercises, grounding techniques, or personal strengths.
• The Safe/Calm Place exercise is a common example of EMDR resourcing.
• Resourcing is different from processing a distressing memory.
• Different resources work for different people, so there is no single exercise everyone needs to use.
• Resources can be used before, during, or after EMDR whenever you find them useful.

What Does “Resourcing” Mean in EMDR?

The word resourcing can sound technical, but the basic idea is simple.

A resource is something that helps you connect with a helpful state or feeling.

That might be calm.

It might be confidence.

It might be a sense of support, strength, comfort, or being connected to the present moment.

Resourcing means identifying those things and practicing them so they are easier to return to when you want them.

You may already use resources in everyday life without calling them that.

Perhaps taking a few slow breaths helps you settle.

Maybe thinking about a certain place makes you feel peaceful.

Perhaps remembering something difficult that you handled successfully reminds you that you are capable.

EMDR resourcing takes these kinds of helpful experiences and uses them more deliberately.

Where Does Resourcing Fit Into EMDR?

EMDR is traditionally described as having eight phases, and resourcing is most commonly associated with Phase 2: Preparation.

This is the part of EMDR where you become familiar with the process and develop useful ways to manage your attention and emotions.

Resources are not limited to the preparation phase, however.

Once you have found something that works well for you, you can return to it later.

You might use a resource before working with a memory, during a pause, at the end of an EMDR session, or at another time when you simply find it helpful.

What Are Some Examples of EMDR Resources?

A resource can take many forms.

Examples include:

• Imagining a calm or peaceful place
• Remembering a positive experience
• Thinking about someone supportive
• Remembering a time when you handled something difficult successfully
• Connecting with a feeling of confidence or capability
• Taking slow, comfortable breaths
• Using a grounding exercise
• Noticing reassuring things in your surroundings
• Thinking about a personal strength
• Using an encouraging or supportive thought

A resource does not need to be dramatic or unusually meaningful.

Something simple that helps you feel a little calmer, steadier, or more capable can be useful.

What Is the Safe/Calm Place Exercise?

One well-known EMDR resourcing exercise is often called Safe Place or Calm Place.

The idea is to bring to mind a real or imagined place associated with calm, comfort, or ease.

It might be:

• A beach
• A forest
• A quiet room
• A garden
• A favorite chair
• A vacation spot
• Somewhere from childhood
• A place that exists entirely in your imagination

You can then notice the details associated with that place.

What do you see?

What sounds are there?

What does the environment feel like?

What do you notice about yourself while imagining it?

The goal is not to create a perfect mental picture. It is simply to connect with an image or experience that feels useful to you.

Does It Have to Be a “Safe” Place?

No.

Some people naturally connect with the phrase Safe Place, while others prefer Calm Place, Peaceful Place, Comfortable Place, or another description.

The name is not important.

What matters is whether the image helps you connect with the feeling or state you are looking for.

You also do not need to choose the kinds of places commonly used in relaxation exercises.

If imagining a beach does nothing for you, there is no reason to use one.

Your resource should be something that works for you.

Can a Positive Memory Be a Resource?

Yes.

A positive or encouraging memory can be used as a resource.

You might remember:

• Completing something difficult
• Solving a problem
• Standing up for yourself
• Feeling proud of something you accomplished
• Being supported by someone
• Feeling peaceful somewhere
• Laughing with someone you care about
• Getting through a situation you once thought would be difficult

The memory itself does not have to represent a major life event.

What matters is the feeling or quality you connect with when you remember it.

For example, remembering something you handled successfully might help you reconnect with a sense of confidence.

Can Another Person Be a Resource?

Yes.

Thinking about another person can sometimes help you connect with feelings of support, reassurance, encouragement, or confidence.

The person might be:

• A family member
• A friend
• A teacher
• A mentor
• Someone you admire
• A fictional character who represents a quality that is meaningful to you

The person does not need to be physically present.

The resource comes from what thinking about them brings up for you.

Perhaps you remember something encouraging they once said.

Maybe thinking about them reminds you that you are supported.

Or perhaps they represent a quality, such as courage or persistence, that you want to connect with yourself.

Can Your Own Strengths Be Resources?

Yes.

Resources do not always have to come from another person, place, or memory.

Your own qualities can be resources too.

You might think about times when you have shown:

• Courage
• Persistence
• Patience
• Confidence
• Compassion
• Independence
• Creativity
• Determination

You may not feel strongly connected with that quality every day, but remembering times when you have demonstrated it can help make it easier to access.

For example, if you are working on something that brings up feelings of powerlessness, remembering a time when you made an important decision for yourself might help you reconnect with a sense of choice.

For people working on self-esteem, reconnecting with personal strengths such as confidence, courage, or persistence may also feel useful.

What Is Resource Development and Installation?

You may sometimes see the term Resource Development and Installation, often shortened to RDI.

This is a more structured form of resourcing that focuses on identifying and strengthening helpful qualities, memories, images, or feelings.

For example, you might identify a memory in which you felt particularly confident.

You bring that experience to mind and focus on the details associated with the feeling of confidence.

In some EMDR approaches, bilateral stimulation may also be used while focusing on the resource.

The basic idea is to make the helpful quality or experience easier to access later.

Resourcing does not always need to involve a structured RDI exercise. Many resources are much simpler.

Does Resourcing Use Bilateral Stimulation?

It can.

Some resourcing exercises may include bilateral stimulation, such as alternating eye movements, sounds, or tapping, while you focus on a helpful image, memory, feeling, or personal quality.

Other resources do not require bilateral stimulation.

For example, you might simply take a few slow breaths, notice your surroundings, or bring a calming image to mind.

The resource itself is the helpful focus or strategy. Bilateral stimulation may or may not be part of how it is practiced.

Is Resourcing the Same as Processing?

No.

They are different parts of EMDR.

Resourcing focuses on something helpful that you want to strengthen or access.

Processing focuses on the memory, thought, feeling, or other target you are working on through EMDR.

A simple way to think about the difference is:

Resourcing: “What helps me feel more calm, supported, or capable?”

Processing: “What am I working on during this EMDR session?”

Both can be part of EMDR, but they have different purposes.

Is Grounding the Same as Resourcing?

Not exactly, although they can overlap.

Grounding generally means bringing your attention back to what is happening around you in the present moment.

For example, you might notice:

• Your feet touching the floor
• The chair underneath you
• Objects you can see in the room
• Sounds around you
• Your breathing

These kinds of grounding exercises can also be used as resources.

Resourcing is simply the broader category. A resource can help with grounding, but it might instead help you connect with confidence, calm, support, courage, or another useful state.

Grounding and calming resources may also be useful for people working through anxiety, especially when they want help reconnecting with the present moment.

Is Resourcing Just About Relaxing?

No.

Calming exercises are common resources, but resourcing can involve much more than relaxation.

Sometimes the useful resource is a sense of:

• Confidence
• Courage
• Capability
• Choice
• Persistence
• Self-compassion
• Support

For example, before working with a memory connected with feeling powerless, you might find it useful to remember a time when you successfully made an important decision for yourself.

That resource is not necessarily about relaxation.

It is about reconnecting with a quality that feels useful.

What If a Resource Does Not Work for You?

Try a different one.

There is no particular resourcing exercise that everyone has to use.

Some people find visualization very easy and immediately connect with the Calm Place exercise.

Others do not enjoy visualization at all.

You might connect more easily with:

• A real memory
• A supportive person
• A personal strength
• Something you can physically see around you
• Your breathing
• A particular thought or phrase

There is no benefit to repeatedly using a resource that does not feel useful simply because it is a common EMDR exercise.

The point is to find resources that work for you.

Do You Need Lots of Resources Before Doing EMDR?

Not necessarily.

More resources are not automatically better.

Some people may find one or two simple resources are all they want to use. Others may like having several different options.

You also do not need to become perfectly calm before doing EMDR.

Resourcing is not a test you have to pass before you can begin working with a target.

It is simply a useful part of EMDR preparation that gives you additional ways to manage your attention and pacing.

Can You Use Resources Outside an EMDR Session?

Yes.

A useful resource does not stop being useful when an EMDR session ends.

You might use one:

• Before starting EMDR
• During a pause
• At the end of a session
• Later in the day
• At another time when you want to feel more settled or focused

For example, if you discover that imagining a particular place reliably helps you feel calmer, you can use that exercise whenever you want.

The same is true for breathing exercises, positive memories, grounding techniques, or other resources you find helpful.

How Resourcing Works With Self-Guided EMDR

Resourcing can be especially practical in a self-guided format because you control when you want to pause, shift your attention, or use a resource.

A structured self-guided EMDR program may introduce resourcing exercises during preparation and give you opportunities to return to them as you move through the process.

You might use a calming image, a positive memory, a grounding exercise, or another resource that works well for you.

Because the process is self-guided, you can decide when you want to use those tools and which ones are most useful.

The goal is not to make EMDR complicated. Resourcing simply gives you additional options for managing your own experience and pacing.

Conclusion

Resourcing in EMDR means identifying things that help you connect with calm, confidence, support, strength, or another useful state.

A resource might be a peaceful image, a positive memory, a supportive person, a personal strength, slow breathing, or a grounding exercise.

There is no single resource everyone needs to use, and resourcing does not need to be complicated. The most useful resources are simply the ones that work for you and that you can return to when you want them.