The Visualization of EMDR Resourcing: Nurturing & Protective Figures
Imagine your mind as a garden. Before planting delicate flowers or tackling stubborn weeds, you need to prepare the soil, water it, and make sure it's ready for growth. EMDR resourcing is like tending to your mental garden before doing the trauma work. It's like ensuring your garden has strong roots, sturdy fences, and a reliable watering system. During resourcing, your EMDR therapist helps you nurture these mental "tools.” This way, when you start addressing past trauma memories, your garden is ready to grow. Just like a well-tended garden can weather any storm, resourcing helps you feel resilient and strong during EMDR therapy. In our third blog post in the three part series, we explore an EMDR therapy resource called Nurturing and Protective Figures.
EMDR Resourcing
In EMDR, there are many different types of resourcing! Read the first two blogs in this series to learn about techniques such as the Calm Safe Space and the Container Exercise! Another EMDR resource is called "Nurturing and Protective Figures." It is used to support you in processing traumatic memories and fostering emotional healing. Nurturing and Protective Figures are symbolic representations of qualities of support and safety. These figures are imagined or remembered during EMDR to provide a sense of comfort and protection.
Below are important points to understand about Nurturing and Protective Figures in EMDR:
Symbolic Representation: Nurturing and Protective Figures don't have to be real people from your life. They are symbolic representations of qualities and relationships that bring comfort and support.
Imagined Figures: You are encouraged to imagine or remember people who created a strong sense of safety, love, and protection. They can be real people from the your past or present. They can be fictional characters (such as a superhero!), or even spiritual or symbolic entities.
Purpose: The inclusion of Nurturing and Protective Figures serves various purposes in EMDR therapy:
Emotional Regulation: Imagining these figures can help regulate emotions. It can provide a sense of safety during the processing of traumatic memories.
Resource Development: These figures serve as internal resources that you can use during EMDR. They contribute to your overall resilience and coping skills.
Integration with Trauma Processing: Your EMDR therapist may guide you to bring these figures into the trauma processing. This integration helps increase feelings of safety and support when the reprocessing of distressing experiences.
Creation of a Safe Space: Nurturing and Protective Figures contribute to creating a mental safe space within the therapeutic process. This safe space helps you cope with trauma and PTSD symptoms.
Variability in Figures: The choice of your figures is an individual decision. Some may imagine close family members or friends, while others may choose fictional characters or spiritual figures. The most important thing is that these figures are significant for you.
Therapist Guidance: EMDR therapists play an important role in guiding you through the process of identifying and utilizing your figures. They may help you explore who or what represents safety and support in your lives.
Adaptability: The use of Nurturing and Protective Figures is adaptable based on the your needs. Therapists may introduce this technique at different phases of EMDR to enhance emotional regulation and resource development.
Adult Self: The adult self can be a protector figure. You can tap into your present, mature, and empowered state.
Resources and Grief
At times, when you think about the concept of a caring figure, it can create up feelings of sadness. You might long for the nurturing support you might have missed out on as a child. These feelings and experiences are real and valid. The goal of this exercise is not to invalidate what you went through. Even though you did not get the care you deserved and needed as a child, it's possible to give your nervous system a new experience now. You can use your imagination to create nurturing connections in the present.
If you have a hard time identifying a nurturing figure, it is still possible to do this exercise. You can imagine a time where you were loving or caring towards someone or something else. This could be a person, a pet, a plant or even a stuffed animal.
"Nurturing and Protective Figures" Exercise
The following exercise was adapted using Chat GPT.
1. Set the Scene: Find a quiet and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed. Take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
2. Reflect on Nurturing Figures: Think about someone in your life who has been nurturing and supportive. It could be a family member, friend, mentor, or even a fictional character. Picture them in your mind. What qualities make them nurturing? How do they make you feel safe and cared for? In this image: What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you feel in your body?
3. Journal Your Reflections: Open a journal or notebook and write down your reflections on the nurturing figure. Describe the specific qualities or actions that make them supportive. Consider how their presence affects your emotions and well-being.
4. Explore Protective Figures: Now, shift your focus to identifying protective figures in your life. These are individuals who make you feel safe and secure.
5. Journal Your Protective Figure Reflections: In your journal, write down the characteristics of the protective figure. What actions or qualities create a shield of safety around you? How does their presence create to a sense of security and protection?
6. Combine Nurturing and Protective Qualities: Envision a blend of both nurturing and protective qualities in a single figure. This could be a real person or a symbolic representation. Imagine this figure providing unconditional support, care, and protection. How does their presence make you feel? What does it look like when they are with you in challenging situations?
7. Creative Expression: Consider expressing these images creatively. You can draw, write a poem, or create a collage representing your nurturing and protective figures. Allow your imagination to guide you in capturing the essence of these supportive influences.
8. Reflection and Self-Compassion: Take a moment to reflect on the exercise. Recognize the strength and resilience within you. Practice self-compassion. Acknowledge that you have the ability to use these sources of support whenever needed.
Ready to start EMDR Therapy in Michigan?
You don’t have to recover alone. Recovering from trauma and anxiety is challenging but it doesn’t have to be lonely too. At Embodied Wellness, PLLC, our compassionate EMDR therapists are here to support and guide you. Whether you are recovering from childhood trauma, neglect or trauma as an adult, we are here to help. To start EMDR therapy, please follow these steps:
Call, text or email us for a free therapy consultation.
Talk to an EMDR therapist today! .
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Other Therapy Services at Embodied Wellness in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and throughout Michigan
We offer many services in addition to EMDR Therapy in Detroit. Our offerings encompass Empath therapy and Online Therapy in Michigan. We specialize in OCD treatment and ERP therapy, Trauma therapy and PTSD treatment, DBT, depression treatment, Somatic Therapy, and Internal Family Systems. These online therapy services are accessible to both teenagers and adults. Additionally, we offer therapy in Spanish! Reach out to our Detroit-based practice today to embark on your path toward a more promising future!
About the Author:
Sarah Rollins, LMSW, SEP is the founder of Embodied Wellness, PLLC, a group therapy practice providing online therapy in Michigan. She is passionate about expanding awareness of somatic therapy as way to treat and heal trauma. She incorporates other holistic treatments into her practice including EMDR and IFS.