The Power of Visualisation in Addiction, family and work relationships

Ever struggled to make a change? Ever tired of trying to make change but feeling like it is not working? Ever had loss of hope? This is a very common thing I see with clients at my practice as they deal with issues such as addiction, relationship issues or workplace stress it becomes apparent that the struggle to make change coincides with overwhelm, stress and anxiety just to name a few. All of which can play a detrimental role in the outcome of the experience if not treated in the proper way. Many people struggle to find a way of coping especially when they are experiencing such an upheaval and their mind is filled with thoughts making it hard to create distance between them and their thoughts feeding into the feeling of being stuck. 

Visualisation is a really powerful tool to help you look into the future to how you hope your life to be. One of the questions I often ask my clients is ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?’ ‘Do you have any goals you want to achieve?’ – Often this is met with having the desire and want to do these things but it feeling like to far of a stretch to reach and get there and thinking like this often puts clients back into a stuck feeling almost like they are not allowing their themselves to think freely because there is always something holding them back weather it be addiction, relationship issues such as people pleasing putting others needs first or overwhelming stress. This is where I like to work with my clients and hold space to not only connect with visualisation but to also allow them the space to connect with their 5 senses which will then allow for them to build up self-belief even on a subconscious level because the brain is imagining that particular goal or situation to potentially the highest degree.

Often a lot of the time people may come to therapy and say I am experiencing a relationship issue or an alcohol, drug or shopping addiction issue. When asked how did this started happening or how did you feel the last time you did this, clients may only remember very little about all the specifics. This may be due to the fact that there is some lack of self-awareness or the client is acting out of emotion because it is too overwhelming or painful for them to want to go back to that place so it is almost as if their brain puts a mental block on that situation and what happened. However specific skills of visualisation can allow for the client to stop, pause, think and reflect. This can be done by asking the questions such as ‘Where were you when you last drank?’, ‘Where you with anyone?’, ‘What did it smell like?’, ‘What were you wearing?’ – these questions open up the ability for clients to use their imagination skills and really reflect back and open up in a lot more details. The same principle can be used for looking into the future and when thinking about goals.

Often a lot of the time in my practice my clients want to stop engaging with bad habits weather that be addiction or taking their frustration out on others causing relationship issues but have a difficult time doing so and one reason could be because their desire or want does not meet their expectation. An example of this could be. ‘I want to stop drinking but I expect that this will not happen.’ / ‘I want to stop drinking’ but you are expecting failure. Or in the workplace you may be thinking, ‘I want success’ but are expecting to fail. This weakness visualisation as your brain does not know which outcome to prioritise. This also ties in with self-sabotage that is when you expect less than you want it may lead to you unconsciously avoiding taking bold actions, dismissing opportunities as they many be deemed as ‘too good to be true’ and even engaging in procrastination or doubt. It could also lead to decreased motivation in that if you believe the future you have visualised for yourself is not realistically attainable, your motivation may drop.

Often a lot of the time I work with clients in bridging the gap between their wants and expectations. This includes setting realistic goals and then breaking it down into smaller more manageable goals in order to build motivation and align wants and expectations. This is all done alongside holding space for their feelings and emotional needs weather that be processing what is happening for them right now or even something from the past that has maybe come back up in the present day.

At the core my work with clients isn’t just about finding goals and working towards them through visualisation it is about looking at everything in an holistic way.