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What Does my Anxiety Look Like? A Thematic Analysis of the Impact of a Single Session Imagery Technique on Emotional Issues

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Abstract

Anxiety is one of the main emotional issues that has grown over the last few years. It is characterized by emotional overreaction to threatening situations that are experienced as frightening and emotionally. Unmanageable. In particular, COVID-19 emergencies lead to impairments in Quality of Life and mental well-being due to severe distress and the fear of getting sick or dying. A guided imagery technique can reportedly reduce emotional issues, anxiety in particular. We sought to determine the cognitive representation of anxiety in a sample of the general population. Moreover, we explored the emotional experience of a recorded guided imagery in reducing participants’ anxiety. Thirty-four participants answered ad hoc questions before and after the psychological tool. Findings were analyzed in accordance with the qualitative thematic analysis procedure, emerging three themes and nine related sub-themes. Firstly, participants reported various main colors and shapes, with a notable emphasis on dark tones and symbols, such as triangles. Second, body and mind are the two main sub-themes as benefits perceived during the imagery technique experiences. Lastly, participants evidenced body, emotions, cognitions, and anxiety management improvements as benefits in a long time. Future directions for practical implication.

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Data Availability

Our study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the author’s university on April 30, 2020. The study will be conducted according to the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki (59th WMA General Assembly, Seoul, 2008). All patients provided written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health with Ricerca Corrente and 5×1000 funds.

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The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this Manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, IEO European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, Via Giuseppe Ripamonti, 435, 20141, Milan, Italy

    Valeria Sebri & Gabriella Pravettoni

  2. Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Francesca Maria Pizzoli & Gabriella Pravettoni

  3. Faculty of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Francesca Maria Pizzoli

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  1. Valeria Sebri
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  2. Silvia Francesca Maria Pizzoli
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  3. Gabriella Pravettoni
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by V.S., S.F.M.P., and G.P; The first draft of the manuscript was written by V.S. and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript; G.P. contributed to the important intellectual content and supervised the whole process. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Valeria Sebri.

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Sebri, V., Pizzoli, S.F.M. & Pravettoni, G. What Does my Anxiety Look Like? A Thematic Analysis of the Impact of a Single Session Imagery Technique on Emotional Issues. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-024-00545-2

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