What Is Containment? Building Safety in the Body Through Somatic Therapy
Learn how containment in therapy helps create internal safety and support nervous system regulation. Explore somatic strategies, boundary work, and opening and closing rituals to build emotional resilience.
Containment: A Somatic Foundation for Safety and Regulation
When big emotions or traumatic memories surface in therapy, it’s not always about “getting them out.” In fact, too much too soon can overwhelm the nervous system. This is where containment comes in.
Containment refers to the ability to hold emotional experience in a way that feels tolerable, manageable, and safe—especially in the body. It’s not about avoiding or suppressing feelings, but about creating boundaries and practices that support emotional integration without flooding.
In somatic therapy, containment is the gentle structure that allows the nervous system to settle, even in the presence of distress.
Why Containment Matters
Many people enter therapy feeling raw, unmoored, or dysregulated—especially if they’ve experienced trauma, chronic stress, or boundary violations. Without a sense of containment, emotional work can feel chaotic or unsafe.
Containment helps you:
Stay present during difficult emotions
Build nervous system capacity
Develop a sense of control and choice
Feel more grounded and resourced
Safely explore trauma or pain without becoming overwhelmed
How Containment Is Created
Containment is co-created in therapy through:
Relational safety: The therapeutic relationship itself is foundational—attuned, non-judgmental, and boundaried.
Clear boundaries: Knowing when therapy begins and ends, what’s expected, and how emotions are handled builds predictability and trust.
Somatic awareness: Learning to notice and name sensations helps clients identify when they’re approaching overwhelm and when to slow down.
Pacing and titration: Working in manageable pieces (“going slow to go fast”) avoids retraumatization.
Ritual and structure: Predictable rituals help cue the body that it’s entering or exiting emotional work.
Boundary Work and Containment
Containment and boundaries go hand in hand. Boundaries aren’t just interpersonal—they also exist within your internal world.
Therapeutic boundary work can involve:
Identifying emotional or energetic “leaks”
Practicing saying no (even internally)
Learning to differentiate between your emotions and others’
Setting limits on how much you explore in a single session
Clear boundaries support containment by helping you feel more in control of what you allow in and what you release.
Final Thoughts: Containment as a Compassionate Skill
Containment isn’t about shutting down or toughing it out. It’s a compassionate practice of holding—of offering your body and mind a safe place to experience and metabolize what was once too much. Over time, your capacity grows, your system becomes more flexible, and healing becomes more sustainable.
If you’re looking to deepen your own sense of internal safety and containment, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. This is foundational work I do every day with clients in my therapy practice.
Want a downloadable handout on containment strategies?
Check out my Etsy shop for printable tools, or get a free PDF when you join my email list.
