Safe Place Visualization: Build Your EMDR Calm Place

Paint a calm place layer by layer, name what you see, hear and feel, and pick a cue word. With an EMDR-trained therapist, strengthen it with short, slow left-right sets; on your own, practice the cue word.

Adults Kids Calm & regulate EMDR

8–15 minutesIn person and on video

Free interactive tool

Link copied – paste it to your client

If someone is hurting you or you don’t feel safe, tell a teacher, a doctor or another grown-up you trust. Childhelp (US and Canada): call or text 1-800-422-4453. In danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. Outside the US and Canada, a grown-up can help you find a helpline in your country. Teens and adults in crisis: call or text 988 (US and Canada) or your local crisis line.

Made with care by Mentalyc

No sign-upNothing you type is stored

Use with care

Some trauma survivors have no place that feels safe; use calm-place wording and stop if the image turns distressing.

Bilateral sets for resourcing stay short and slow, and are done with the therapist, not as homework. Keep the annoyance in the cueing steps small. If the place starts to feel less vivid or less calming during left-right sets, stop the sets and use the cue word alone.

How to play

Under the scene, open 'Using this' and pick On my own or With my therapist now.
Pick a place, time of day, weather, an animal friend and something comforting.
Tap what you can hear, feel and smell there, and the feeling it gives you. Choose one cue word that brings it back.
With your therapist: follow the soft light for a few short, slow sets. On your own: say the cue word and picture the place for a few breaths. Rate how calm you feel before and after.
Think of something mildly annoying, then bring up your cue word and your place (first with your therapist, then on your own). Rate your calm each time.
Keep your postcard and practice: say the word, picture the place.

About the technique

The calm place exercise is part of the preparation phase of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which Francine Shapiro introduced in 1989 as EMD (Shapiro, 1989). Before any trauma memory is processed, the client builds a detailed image of a place associated with calm, noticing what they see, hear and feel in the body, and links it to a cue word. Short sets of slow bilateral stimulation may be added to strengthen the state, and the cue word gives the client a way back to it within and between sessions (Shapiro, 2018).

Its purpose is affect tolerance. A rehearsed calm state shows the client can shift out of distress, helps close incomplete sessions and informs readiness for reprocessing. It is a standard part of the EMDR protocol but has little research of its own, so the evidence is practice-based. The role of the bilateral sets is particularly uncertain: in an experiment with students recalling positive memories, eye movements reduced the vividness and pleasantness of those memories rather than strengthening them (Hornsveld et al., 2011). So keep sets short and slow, and check after each that the image still feels good. Clients who dissociate need slower pacing.

It suits adults, teens and children preparing for trauma-focused work. Not every survivor has a place that felt safe, so say calm rather than safe, allow an imagined place and stop if the image turns distressing or intrusive material appears. Bilateral sets belong with a trained EMDR clinician in session; between sessions, clients can practice the image and cue word alone.

For therapists: how to run it

Goal

A portable calm state the client can call up with a cue word; calm goes up across the short sets.

In session

For EMDR-trained clinicians: share your screen or send the link, then open 'Using this' under the scene and tap With my therapist now (the client link opens without sets). Let the client choose each layer; ask what makes it feel calm.
On step 2, ask what they hear, feel and smell there, and agree a cue word together.
Rate calm, then run 2–4 slow sets (6 passes each). After each, ask "What do you notice?" and rate calm again. Continue only while it stays pleasant.
Cueing with disturbance: ask the client to think of something mildly annoying, then bring up the cue word and the place (one slow set if you like). Then self-cueing: they do it on their own, without the light. Rate calm after each.
If anything unpleasant comes up, stop the sets, ground, and change the detail or the place.
Finish with the postcard. Copy for clinical notes gives you a one-line record.

As homework

Open the link (it starts in On my own, with no left-right sets) and build your place again the same way.
Say your cue word and picture the place for a few breaths, once a day and after small stresses. Rate your calm before and after.
Tap Copy for my therapist, then paste it into your therapist's secure messaging (client portal) or bring it to your next session. Nothing you type is saved, so copy before closing.

Mandated reporting

Exercises like this can lead to disclosures of abuse, neglect or risk. Know your reporting duties before you start, and pause if one comes up.

Good to know

Calm place (also called safe place) is a standard EMDR preparation exercise. Building a calm place is a resourcing exercise, not EMDR therapy, which needs a trained clinician and the full protocol. Many clinicians now say "calm place" because some trauma survivors have no place that feels safe. If the place turns unpleasant, stop, and build another one together. Use it with children only with an EMDR-trained child clinician. Children should not include real people who may not be safe; this builder offers animals only, and they practice the cue word at home only with a parent nearby. With children, any activity can lead to a disclosure of abuse or neglect. Know your mandated-reporting duty before you start, and pause the activity if one comes up.

Worksheets that pair with this tool

Sources & credibility

Method: Calm/safe place exercise with short, slow bilateral stimulation
Developed by: Francine Shapiro (EMDR Phase 2 preparation); rooted in older guided-imagery practice
First described: 1990s
Approach: EMDR
Evidence: Practice-based (limited trials)A standard step of the EMDR manual, used to build calm and coping before trauma processing; it has little research of its own. In one lab study with 53 students, adding eye movements made positive memories less vivid and pleasant, and EMDR authors dispute whether that applies to resourcing in therapy.

References

Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Hornsveld, H. K., Houtveen, J. H., Vroomen, M., Kapteijn, I., Aalbers, D., & van den Hout, M. A. (2011). Evaluating the effect of eye movements on positive memories such as those used in resource development and installation. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 5(4), 146–155. Source
Leeds, A. M., & Korn, D. L. (2012). A commentary on Hornsveld et al. (2011): A valid test of resource development and installation? Absolutely not. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 6(4), 170–173. Source

How it was made

Built by the Mentalyc team from the original method and the published sources listed here. Nothing you enter is stored.

Questions people ask

What is safe place visualization?

Safe place visualization is a calming exercise where you imagine a place where you feel safe and at ease, using all your senses. In EMDR, the calm place is built in the preparation phase as a resource to return to.

What is an example of a safe place in EMDR?

It can be real or imagined: a beach, a forest, a cozy room or a place you have only pictured. What matters is that it feels calm and has no links to distressing memories.

Can I use the calm place on my own?

Yes, once it has been set up with your therapist, many people use their calm place and cue word between sessions. If a calm place brings up distress, stop and tell your therapist.

What is resourcing in EMDR?

Resourcing builds calming and strengthening states before trauma processing, usually in the preparation phase. The calm or safe place exercise is the most common: the client develops a soothing image, links it to a cue word and strengthens it with a few short, slow sets of bilateral stimulation.

Keep exploring

Problem or idea? Tell us (opens in a new tab)

Your game designer

Michael Thompson, MSc

Michael's background combines doctoral training in clinical psychology with research on motivation, learning, and emotional regulation.

More about Michael Thompson, MSc →

Table Of Contents

About the technique
For therapists: how to run it
Worksheets that pair with this tool
Sources & credibility
Questions people ask

How Mentalyc works

Every session updates clinical notes, plan, progress and alliance

Notes, treatment plans, progress, alliance feedback and worksheet matches draw on the same client history, so each informs the others.

one session

one golden thread across sessions

feedback, like a supervisor would

matched to each session

Why other mental health professionals love Mentalyc

“It immediately changed my quality of life, personally and professionally.”

Kara-Myung Jin Purves Owner/Independently Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)

“Do yourself a favor, make your life easier. I found Mentalyc to be one of the best tools that I’ve ever used.”

Stanley LeMelle Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

“If I were recommending this software to a colleague, I would tell them that it is the best thing that they could do for their practice.”

Dominique Walker Licensed Professional Counselor

Made for use in therapy: a licensed mental health professional decides whether a tool suits their client and guides its use.

Children should use this with a parent, therapist or teacher, not on their own.

Educational practice aid, not a medical device. Not a substitute for therapy, diagnosis or emergency care.

Try another tool

Circle of Control

Coping Skills Escape Room

Mindful Watercolor Coloring