Visualization

Visualization is a broader mind-body and relaxation technique.

It is not one of DBT's standalone skill acronyms.

In DBT, the first letter of:

IMPROVE

stands for:

Imagery.

Imagery can be used during distress to mentally create something more:

• Calming
• Hopeful
• Supportive
• Manageable

while you get through the current moment.

Visualization can therefore be one way to practice the imagery portion of IMPROVE.

Guided imagery often involves someone or a recording leading you through an imagined experience.

Once familiar with the technique, you can also guide yourself.

Visualization and guided imagery overlap substantially, although different programs may use the terms differently.

Some people experience very vivid mental pictures.

Others experience:

• Faint images
• Brief impressions
• Spatial awareness without a clear picture
• Mostly words or concepts
• Little or no voluntary visual imagery

None of these means you are doing the exercise incorrectly.

If you cannot clearly picture a beach, you might still imagine:

• The sound of waves
• Warm air
• Sand beneath your feet
• The smell of the ocean
• The idea of sitting near the water

The experience does not need to look like a movie in your head.

If verbal thinking comes more naturally, quietly describe the scene to yourself.

For example:

“There is a bench. It is quiet. The air is cool. I can hear water nearby.”

You do not need to force visual pictures that are not available.

If visual imagery is available to you, notice:

• Colors
• Light
• Shapes
• Distance
• Movement

You do not need every detail to be sharp.

Imagine what you might hear.

Maybe:

• Water
• Wind
• Birds
• Rain
• Quiet music
• A familiar voice

Imagine:

• Warm sunlight
• Cool air
• A soft blanket
• A chair supporting you
• Grass beneath your feet

Sometimes imagined physical sensations are easier to access than visual details.

You might imagine:

• Coffee
• Rain
• Trees
• Food
• Ocean air

Use these senses only when they help make the experience more engaging.

You might imagine yourself:

• Walking
• Floating
• Sitting
• Stretching
• Moving through a familiar place

Imagery can include the sense of movement, not only a still picture.

Relaxation recordings often use:

• Beaches
• Forests
• Mountains

Those settings are not universally relaxing.

You might prefer:

• Your bedroom
• A library
• A favorite chair
• A workshop
• A garden
• A quiet cafe
• An imaginary room

Your scene can be:

• A real place you remember
• A combination of several places
• Entirely invented

The goal is not photographic accuracy.

Choose imagery that supports the purpose of the exercise.

Some guided exercises ask you to imagine:

“the safest place imaginable.”

That instruction can feel difficult for some people.

You can instead choose somewhere that feels:

• Comfortable enough
• Quiet enough
• Interesting
• Neutral
• Less demanding

The setting does not have to produce a perfect sense of safety.

Build a scene where less is required of you.

Maybe:

• No one needs an answer
• There is nowhere you have to rush
• The temperature feels comfortable
• Your body is supported
• The surroundings are predictable

Let your attention spend a little time there.

Start with only:

one detail.

For example:

“I hear rain against the window.”

Then add:

“I'm sitting somewhere warm.”

There is no need to build an elaborate imaginary world immediately.

You might simply imagine:

• Warmth in your hands
• A comfortable heaviness in your shoulders
• A cool breeze against your face
• Being wrapped in a soft blanket

Stay with the sensation for several breaths.

Notice whether your body responds at all.

No particular response is required.

If you expect a difficult situation, imagine the challenge beginning.

Then imagine yourself:

• Pausing
• Breathing
• Using a coping skill
• Speaking clearly
• Taking a break if needed
• Returning to what matters

Focus on:

coping effectively,

not on creating a fantasy in which nothing difficult happens.

You cannot reliably imagine:

exactly how another person will behave.

You can imagine:

• How you want to respond
• What skill you will use
• What boundary you will maintain
• What you will do if the situation becomes difficult

The formal DBT skill:

Coping Ahead

uses mental rehearsal of coping effectively with an anticipated difficult situation.

Visualization can therefore be one tool used within Coping Ahead.

See that skill when you are preparing for a specific future event.

Visualization can help you:

• Focus attention
• Relax
• Rehearse a response
• Prepare for a situation

It does not give your thoughts control over external events.

Imagining:

“Everything will go perfectly”

cannot guarantee that outcome.

Instead of:

“The interview goes perfectly and they immediately hire me,”

try:

“I notice that I'm nervous. I slow down, listen to the question, and answer as clearly as I can.”

That rehearses your behavior without pretending you control the outcome.

Anxiety may repeatedly generate images of what could go wrong.

Visualization can deliberately shift some attention toward another internally generated experience.

You might return to:

• The sound of imagined rain
• A familiar room
• The feeling of sitting somewhere comfortable

each time worry pulls your attention away.

If your mind creates a frightening image, you do not need to argue with it until it disappears.

Try:

“That's the anxiety image. I'm returning to the scene I chose.”

Imagery is not helpful for everyone during high anxiety.

If closing your eyes and imagining things makes you feel:

• More panicked
• More trapped in your thoughts
• Less connected to your surroundings

stop the exercise and use something more externally focused, such as:

• Grounding
• Counting objects
• Present-Moment Focus
• Mindful Walking

When your mind is already overloaded, a complicated visualization may be too much.

Try one image:

“I'm sitting under a tree in the shade.”

Add only:

• One sound
• One sensation
• One visual detail

Keep the exercise easy enough to follow.

Sit or lie somewhere reasonably comfortable if the situation allows.

Let your body be supported.

Then bring attention to your chosen imagery.

You might allow your breathing to become slower while imagining the scene.

Or simply let breathing happen naturally.

If focusing on breathing makes you uncomfortable, keep your attention on the imagery instead.

You may finish a visualization feeling:

• Calmer
• The same
• Distracted
• Restless

The exercise does not need to produce a dramatic relaxation response to have been practiced correctly.

Some guided imagery practices invite you to imagine:

• Warmth around an uncomfortable area
• A painful sensation changing color or shape
• Attention moving toward a more comfortable body area

The goal is not to pretend pain is not real.

Visualization may be one supportive coping technique.

It does not replace appropriate medical evaluation or treatment.

New, severe, worsening, or concerning pain deserves appropriate attention.

You might imagine:

• A familiar quiet place
• Rain
• Floating
• Walking slowly through a peaceful setting

to move attention away from planning or problem solving.

Avoid:

“If I visualize correctly, I should fall asleep now.”

The exercise can simply be part of winding down.

Persistent insomnia may need more than relaxation techniques alone.

Some people find imagery easier with their eyes closed.

Others feel:

• More comfortable
• More oriented
• Less vulnerable

with their eyes open.

You can use:

• Open eyes
• A soft gaze
• A neutral object as a visual anchor

while imagining.

Some people experience:

• Increased anxiety
• Intrusive thoughts
• Unwanted memories
• Fear of losing control

during relaxation or imagery exercises.

You do not need to force yourself through this.

A place that sounds relaxing in theory may remind you of something difficult.

Change it.

You can choose:

• A different location
• A more neutral image
• A single sensory detail
• An external grounding exercise instead

If imagery becomes too intense:

1. Open your eyes if they were closed.
2. Look around the room.
3. Name where you are.
4. Notice your feet or the chair supporting you.
5. Identify several things you can see or hear.

Grounding may be a better fit for that moment.

You might be imagining a quiet garden and suddenly realize you are thinking about:

• Tomorrow's schedule
• An argument
• Work
• Your grocery list

That is normal.

You do not need to rebuild the entire image.

Return to:

one sound, one sensation, or one visual detail.

Then continue if you want to.

Guided recordings can tell you:

• What to imagine
• When to add details
• When to move attention
• When to return to the present

This can make the practice easier when you do not want to generate instructions yourself.

A recording may suggest:

“Imagine walking through a forest.”

If you dislike forests, choose somewhere else.

You can:

• Modify the scene
• Skip an instruction
• Open your eyes
• Stop the recording

Do not close your eyes or deliberately become absorbed in internal imagery while:

• Driving
• Operating machinery
• Crossing traffic
• Doing another task that requires full attention

Choose a coping strategy that keeps your attention on the environment instead.

Choose somewhere comfortable or neutral.

For one minute, imagine:

1. One thing you would see
2. One thing you would hear
3. One physical sensation

Keep returning to those three details.

Choose a familiar or invented place.

Ask:

See:
What is around me?

Hear:
What sounds are present?

Feel:
What is touching my body? What is the temperature?

Smell:
Is there a scent?

Taste:
Is there anything I imagine tasting?

Skip senses that are not useful.

If full scenes are difficult, choose only one sense.

For example:

imagine the sound of steady rain for one minute.

Or:

imagine warm sunlight on your hands.

A complete scene is unnecessary.

Picture or mentally describe a room you know well.

Imagine moving around it.

Notice:

• Where the doors are
• Where furniture sits
• What the lighting is like
• What you might hear

This can be easier than inventing a new environment.

Imagine a room designed entirely around what feels comfortable to you.

Choose:

• Lighting
• Temperature
• Furniture
• Sounds
• Who is or is not allowed there

There is no need for the room to be physically possible.

Imagine comfortable warmth beginning in:

your hands.

Then imagine it gradually spreading through:

• Hands
• Arms
• Shoulders

Notice whether your actual sensations change at all.

Do not force a particular response.

Imagine placing a difficult thought or emotion onto:

• A leaf moving downstream
• A cloud passing overhead
• A train moving away

Watch it move without needing to destroy it.

This overlaps strongly with:

Thought Defusion.

Think of an upcoming situation.

Imagine:

1. The difficult moment beginning
2. Your emotional reaction
3. You noticing the reaction
4. You using a coping skill
5. You taking the next effective action

Practice the part that is under your control.

Choose a simple image.

As you breathe in, imagine:

making room.

As you breathe out, imagine:

releasing some tension.

Keep the breathing gentle and comfortable.

If this feels forced, use the imagery without changing your breath.

Imagine yourself:

• Entering the conversation
• Speaking slowly
• Listening
• Using an “I” Statement
• Setting your boundary if necessary
• Pausing if emotions rise

If you are preparing for a specific difficult event, the full:

Coping Ahead

skill may be especially useful.

Create one scene you can return to repeatedly.

Decide:

• Where you are
• What you hear
• What the temperature is
• What your body is supported by
• What makes the scene low-demand or comforting

Practicing the same imagery can make it easier to recall when distressed.

Before practicing, rate:

• Tension
• Anxiety
• Mental overload

Practice visualization for several minutes.

Then check again.

Do not require the numbers to improve.

You are learning whether this particular imagery works for you.

Stop trying to force a picture.

Try imagining:

• Sound
• Touch
• Temperature
• Movement

Or describe the scene verbally.

People vary substantially in voluntary visual imagery.

Vividness is not a score you need to maximize.

A vague sense of:

“I'm sitting somewhere quiet”

may be enough to hold your attention.

Return to one simple detail.

Maybe:

the sound of rain.

You do not need to restart the entire visualization.

Do not require something deeply relaxing.

Choose somewhere:

• Neutral
• Familiar
• Comfortable enough
• Interesting

Or skip a place entirely and imagine a single supportive sensation.

You do not need to wrestle control of the image.

Open your eyes, orient to the room, and either:

• Choose a different image
• Use a simpler sensory detail
• Switch to Grounding

if that feels better.

Stop the exercise.

Notice actual:

• Objects
• Sounds
• Surfaces
• Colors

around you.

External Grounding may be a better coping strategy.

Visualization does not reliably produce relaxation every time.

Ask:

• Did it hold my attention?
• Did it provide any break from rumination?
• Was the scene actually comfortable for me?
• Would another skill fit better?

You are allowed to choose something else.

This may happen, especially when practicing lying down or before bed.

If you want to remain awake, try:

• Sitting upright
• Keeping your eyes open
• Practicing earlier in the day

The image does not need to be real.

It is an intentional attention and imagination exercise.

If invented imagery feels unnatural, use:

• A real memory
• A familiar place
• A guided recording

You deliberately create or remember:

• An internal scene
• A sensation
• An imagined experience

Grounding may involve:

• The room you are in
• Your feet on the floor
• Sounds around you
• Objects you can see

If you feel:

• Dissociated
• Disconnected
• Overwhelmed by imagery

external Grounding may be the better choice.

You choose something to imagine.

Mindfulness may involve noticing:

• Current sensations
• Current thoughts
• Current sounds
• Current emotions

without deliberately replacing them with another scene.

Both involve intentional attention, but they use it differently.

You deliberately focus on imagined scenes or sensations.

PMR typically involves systematically:

tensing and releasing muscle groups.

The two techniques are sometimes combined, but they are different practices.

It may be used for:

• Relaxation
• Distress tolerance
• Attention refocusing
• Mental rehearsal

Coping Ahead focuses specifically on:

preparing in advance for a situation likely to trigger difficult emotions or urges.

Mental imagery is used to rehearse coping effectively.

If your purpose is:

“I need to prepare for tomorrow,”

Coping Ahead gives you the fuller structure.

IMPROVE is a formal DBT distress-tolerance skill.

It includes:

Imagery

along with several other ways to make a difficult moment more manageable.

This page focuses specifically on how to:

• Choose an image
• Add sensory detail
• Adapt imagery to your needs
• Use imagery for relaxation or coping rehearsal

It can therefore support the Imagery component when you are using IMPROVE.