Oh the joys of containment! I am not sure how many are familiar with this symptom management technique, so I decided to put it out there for those that are not. Containment summed up is a way to teach your brain a more helpful way of storing traumatic material, a less intrusive way and one that grants the sufferer more control over these intrusive thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
DISCLAIMER: I ask you to forgive me now, I am not a PhD, and some of my terms may not be exactly the best clinical way of describing them. I hope that my layman speak will actually be easier to understand. For all intent and purpose, this description is best applied to those that have a trauma history and not the general population.
Ok, the below chart is a description of how people with trauma typically store information related to their abuse in a way that can lead to flashbacks, body memories, feelings that don't match to the present day and acting out behaviors not directly related to a current stressful event.
The conscious is where we keep all current information like date and time, or where we are. We are aware of this knowledge but it is not something we necessarily acknowledge. But it's always available.
The preconscious is where we store information like our birthdate, our address, phone number or things like our first car, our first job. This information is something we can recall when we put some effort into it and doesn't really have any trauma attached to it.
The unconscious is a deep dark place that you really cannot access, even with considerable effort. Trauma survivors store all their blocked out memories and feelings in this place, hoping for it to never come back again.
We break our memories up into behaviors, affect, sensations and knowledge...or BASK. The chart also demonstrates what happens with that stored information. Sometimes a trigger occurs, other times for no reason at all, one of those pieces of information shoots up in the conscious and reeks havoc on your conscious. Flashbacks and body memories abounding. Then, we tend to shove it right back down into the unconscious where it looms until the cycle begins all over again. It can be torturous and definitely effect your ability to function in your daily life!
So really, what is a person supposed to do? How can you end the cycle? How can you start a process that allows YOU control over this?
This is where containment comes into play. Containment is a set of strategies that re-train your brain to take those BASK pieces and store them appropriately in your preconscious where YOU have the control to access them or not to. This is not to be confused with stuffing, or keeping quiet. This won't stop the information from invading, it won't stop the flashbacks all together, however the more you use this...the less there is to store in your unconscious and the less there will be to come out invasively.
So how do you do this you ask?
Well, first you need to figure out how you learn best. Are you a concrete thinking that requires something tangible, something more hands on? Or do you better with imagery and closing your eyes and just thinking something through? (and eventually you can do both)
For the concrete thinkers out there, the best practice for this is finding yourself a small box, preferably one you can lock or by using your journal. When you experience the intrusive symptoms quickly write down on a piece of paper or in your journal three or four simple describing words that will help you to recall the information you experienced. Try to be gentle with the memory trigger words, not too graphic. Seal this information up in the box and lock it or in your journal. Spend the next 15 minutes or so using pleasant imagery, go to your safe place in your head and take care of yourself. Remember, you store that information for later...you don't need to deal with it right now. Once you've successfully done that, congratulate yourself. You just did containment. Sometimes you have to go through this process SEVERAL times before you get relief. It's a learned skill and it takes practice.
Now, with this 'stored' information you can take it to your therapist and add it to the list of things to process. You have the memory triggers there and you can recall it in a safe environment with support.
For people that prefer a more imagery based approach (which is a little more difficult in my opinion) the possibilities are endless for your containment devices. Some people can just make a box in your head, and others I listened to have constructed some VERY intense ways to store it. Some examples include:
-A Hot air balloon
-a treasure chest with multiple locks at the bottom of a lake
-a remote control car with a box locked to it
-a treetrunk with a revolving keypad entry door
One of the most important things to remember about imagery and containment is that with whatever you decide to use, the object must be attached to something that you can imagine yourself using to pull the object back. For example, with the hot air balloon you could have a tether tied to the ground. Or with the treasure chest, and rope attached to a dock or boat. Now that you have your object of storage you can place all the intrusive symptoms in that object and send it to where it is supposed to go and then pull it back while you are in therapy.
Like I said before, the imagery way of doing it can be very complicated and I recommend trying the tangible way first.
Some pointers?
-Test your ability to use this skill with begnin information. Something I used was a commercial I saw on TV. I saw it, wrote a few words on a piece of paper and locked it up. I wrote a note on my computer reminding myself to recall that information later in the day. I tried to remember the commercial without my box, but no such luck. When I opened the piece of paper it was easily recalled. I've also done it with trying to remember important meetings and dates nd it worked. Get comfortable with that before trying to tackle th big stuff.
-DON'T GIVE UP. Sometimes it works, other times your brain just might not be ready and it's something you HAVE to practice.
-Be creative, find something that works for you and ONLY you.
-If you have DID you may need multiple forms of containment, and some parts might want to contruct their own object for their information. It's a wonderful tool.
-Remember, this is a tool to give you control...not silence you.
If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to help you out. e-mail me at crackersandjuice at gmail dot com.
-Allie
The BASK Model using containment
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 08:56PM 
