Container exercise: Using kindness

This article starts with a narrative of the end of an eye movement desensitisation reprocessing (EMDR) session to illustrate the incorporation of kindness into the container exercise, which is a well-established stabilisation exercise. Consent was obtained from the client to use these words in this article, and I have been fortunate that the client encouraged me to continue to use kindness with the container exercise as and when it is beneficial. EMDR is a complex trauma therapy methodology that was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987. EMDR involves eight phases that include the gathering of history, developing a range of stabilisation techniques with the client, the therapeutic reprocessing of trauma memories and reviewing the work within the context of the client’s everyday life (Shapiro, 2001). The container exercise was developed to aid the externalisation of trauma memories and managing overwhelm. This exercise has been used as part of the stabilisation and closure phases of EMDR. The present article illustrates my first foray into adding kindness into the development of the container exercise as part of stabilisation and resource development.

Journal

English

Glenda Wallace

Wallace, G. (2024). Container exercise: Using kindness. Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 34(1), 95–99. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10939172