I notice that I have a tendency to visualize images that appear to cause my feelings. I’ll worry about an imagined future (I can see it in my mind’s eye … the people, what they say, the results, etc.) and that appears to cause anxiety. I think my brain feels this is necessary in order to prepare for an event that may cause uncomfortable emotions.

Other times, I find myself imagining situations in order to feel better. For example, a while back, I was scheduled to go to court for matters concerning my divorce. I was so anxiety ridden around the going to court – as I’d never been there and my mind kept making up terrible stories – that I found myself often imagining a “best case scenario” … how I would show up confidently, what I would say, what the judge would say – which would make me feel a little better. But I’d find myself lost in these imaginings each morning, in the shower, running throughs scenarios of how I’d be alright and come out okay.

I’m wondering how these visualizations or imaginings fit into the model. Can a visualization (either of something going wrong or of us handling something well) be in the T line? Or how would you classify these visualizations of both negative and positive futures?