A guided imaginal process in which the client lets an impulse or feeling become fully represented without acting it out in reality.
Step-by-step guide
- Ensure alliance and regulation
- Invite the client to imagine the figure or scene
- Ask what impulse arises
- Let the impulse unfold in fantasy
- Track guilt, grief, love, and integration afterward
When to use
- After sufficient emotional activation
- When destructive impulses are defended against
- When the client can distinguish imagination from action
Key phrases
If this feeling could show itself fully in imagination, what would it do?
Follow-up questions
What do you see?
What feeling comes after the impulse?
Alternative phrasings
We are not acting this out; we are allowing the impulse to be known.
Let the image unfold and tell me what happens.
Warnings
- ⚠️ Do not use when reality testing is impaired
- ⚠️ Do not encourage enactment
- ⚠️ Integrate guilt and grief after aggressive impulses
Source: Davanloo, H. Coughlin, P
Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.