By: Katie Sasser, PT, DPT, MEd, military family member
As a physical therapist, I help others deal with pain on a regular basis. I know about guided imagery for pain management, but I admit I haven’t used it often—until recently. The idea is that patients can visualize pain leaving the body, so they can see themselves doing tasks they enjoy without pain. Theoretically, the resulting relaxation and stress reduction can calm the nervous system and reduce pain levels.
But can imagination actually create reality?
More than 80% of U.S. Olympic sport-psychology consultants use mental imagery in their training programs. Famous athletes—including Tiger Woods, Lindsey Vonn, and Wayne Gretzky—attribute imagery as a key component of their success. Why do so many elite athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists swear by mental imagery? And how can Service Members benefit?
Imagery in athletics has been shown to improve performance through mastery of a skill or strategy, regulation of performance anxieties, building mental toughness, and improved goal setting, confidence, and concentration.
More than 3 decades of research support the value of imagery in sport: It must be done strategically. I did a deep dive into the benefits of using imagery, and I’d like to share some ways it can help you optimize your performance and build resilience.
Make it personal
The key to using imagery is it must be individual and specific. The best part of this is, you’re the director in your own mind! You can imagine a skill, strategy, goal, feeling, or mastery of anything you want. Then, you set the scene by using all your senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell—and making them as real as possible. You can switch from watching yourself perform to an inside perspective from your body. You can view in slow motion, rewind to replay the details of a skill, and then gradually work up to real speed.
Imagine success
For imagery to make you mentally unstoppable, it must only be positive. Imagery of negative experiences has actually been proven to negatively impact performance. So if you find yourself beginning to visualize a negative performance, rewind the tape and replace it with a positive performance. The same advice goes for negative self-talk: Replace it with positive self-talk. That’s the beauty of controlling your own mind.
Practice like any other skill
Like a muscle, using imagery gets stronger with repetition. Your ability to use imagery and the way you use it (including context and how often you use it) work together to improve performance. Brain scans have shown a partial overlap in cortical activity—the area of the brain used for motor control—related to imagery and physical movement. The best results happen when imagery and physical practice happen at the same time.
Gain confidence after injury
Imagery can help Service Members return to duty after injury just as it can help athletes. As a physical therapist, I often work with athletes and see the psychological effects that follow an injury. Factors such as being away from the team, feeling unable to achieve personal goals, and grieving the loss of a meaningful and joyful activity can lead to depression and affect their ability to return to the sport.
Positive coaching skills are key to rehabilitation, so I recently began to use components of imagery in therapy. For example, a female basketball player coming back from an ankle injury was afraid to do layups—especially landing—because that’s how she got hurt. Instead of doing single-leg hops, she first imagines and then goes through layup mechanics to jump and tap the wall. This makes her therapy more fun, improves her confidence, and works on sport-specific skills while she’s away from practice.
Overall, imagery has been shown to increase satisfaction with the rehabilitation process as it improves strength and endurance. Some studies have shown that through use of imagery in therapy, patients have improved their ability to activate certain muscles—such as their quadriceps—by simply visualizing the activation of the muscles.
Teach imagery to those you lead
Service Members don’t just spontaneously learn the specifics necessary for a successful imagery practice. But almost anyone can learn how to use imagery. Leaders can begin to implement the practice in their units through guided imagery exercises. They can also teach unit members to create their own imagery scripts. Individual sessions work best when done 3–4 times a week and can last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. To track their progress as they build their imagery skillset, Service Members can keep a journal that documents how often they use imagery, along with their results.
Use HPRC’s Imagery Script Worksheet to help yourself or others practice imagery.
Bottom line
- Imagery should be individual to each person.
- Use all 5 of your senses to make the imagery as vivid as possible.
- Practice with the most realistic images possible.
- Teach others how to use imagery and encourage independent practice.
- Imagery is useful when physical training isn’t possible.
- Imagery has the most impact when it’s combined with physical training.
Imagery isn’t just useful to help optimize performance and resilience. It can also improve the rehabilitative process after an injury to facilitate optimal return to duty.
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The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author and do not
reflect the official policy or position of USU or DoD. The contents of this
publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not reflect the
views, opinions, or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the
Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial
products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The
author has no financial interests or relationships to disclose.
