Guided imagery

Purpose

The purpose of guided imagery is to ˜put yourself into a different place without actually going there . It can be used to reflect upon what has happened or on how the future may be. When used to reflect upon a past event, the coachee is able to relive the situation from either his or her own perspective or as an observer. This will involve recalling feelings, events, sights, sounds and thoughts. As a result of doing this, it brings these back into consciousness and they can then be used as the basis for discussion and action planning. Similarly, when visualizing the future, the coachee can use the same approach to picture what might happen “ what are the sounds, feelings, thoughts, etc that he or she might experience. The coachee can then use this vision to discuss how current reality is different and how the future image might be achieved. If the coachee looks at the future and focuses on what might go wrong, it could help him or her become more motivated to make the changes. More often, this technique is used to view a future in which the coachee is being successful. Looking at the future in this way can help the coachee build a positive mental attitude and prepare him or her to move out of his or her comfort zone.

Resources

This will take approximately 20 “30 minutes. Music “ if appropriate.

Notes to the coach

This activity may pull up some issues from the past that the coachee finds upsetting. You need to be prepared to help the coachee deal with this.

Some people find imagery difficult, especially if they are ˜not visual . To help this, you can change how you ask them to think about their past or future so that they are using words that appeal more to them, such as words relating to sounds, feelings or thoughts.

Instructions

Prepare a list of questions that will help the coachee to visualize in the way you want. For example:

• What will your life be like after you have achieved your desired end position?

• How does it feel? What can you see?

• What and who is near you?

• What can you smell?

• What was it like when you. . .?

• How did it feel when you. . .?

• What did you look like?

• What were you wearing ?

• What did others say or how did they respond to you?

Ask the coachee to sit in a relaxed position, with eyes shut. You may or may not want to play quiet music in the background “ instrumental music is best as words can interfere with the visualization. Encourage the coachee to put him- or herself into the required time period, future or past. Allow a few moments for the person to relax and picture the situation. Then begin to ask your questions, in a soft, calm voice. Allow a few minutes after each question for the coachee to visualize the answer. Sometimes, the coachee may want to answer the questions out loud, and if this is the case, you may want to record the answers so you can discuss them later. Other coachees will keep quiet and then be willing to discuss or write down what happened during the exercise.

After the guided imagery is finished, give the coachee a few minutes to come back to current time and gather his or her thoughts. You can then reflect upon what can be learnt from the activity.