Guided imagery
- Medical Review: Ting Bao, MD, MS, FSIO
Guided imagery is a mind-body technique in which a person generates detailed, multisensory mental images to help reduce anxiety, depression, and certain breast cancer symptoms and treatment side effects.
Guided imagery is usually led by a therapist, script, or audio recording to induce relaxation and a specific outcome, such as pain relief or reduced nausea.
How guided imagery might help
In breast cancer, research has shown that guided imagery can help:
- Reduce anxiety, depression, and distress during active treatment
- Reduce chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, pain, and fatigue
- Reduce difficulties with body image after breast cancer treatment
How guided imagery works
A guide may ask you to close your eyes and think of a place that makes you feel safe and calm. You’ll be asked to focus on every part of this place with all five senses, including:
- What it looks like, such as a beach scene or a cozy room
- Sounds, like ocean waves or wind chimes
- Scents such as lavender, fresh pine, or the smells of a comforting meal
- What it feels like, such as a soft breeze on your skin
- Tastes, like the salty ocean air on your lips
Your guide may also use other approaches along with guided imagery, including:
- Progressive muscle relaxation, a technique that involves tensing and relaxing muscles to calm the nervous system
- Music therapy, which uses listening to, moving to, or creating music to help reduce stress, depression, pain, or other symptoms associated with cancer
How to find a guided imagery program
Ask your cancer center’s nurse navigator or social worker if there are guided imagery programs available through your hospital or in your community.
You can also check with organizations such as Cancer Support Community and Unite for Her to see if they offer in-person or virtual guided imagery programs.
Guided imagery videos, podcasts, and books are also available online. Visit the Guided Imagery page at CancerChoices.org to learn more.
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Reviewed and updated: August 6, 2026
Reviewed by: Ting Bao, MD, MS, FSIO
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Living Beyond Breast Cancer is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to create a world that understands there is more than one way to have breast cancer. To fulfill its mission of providing trusted information and a community of support to those impacted by the disease, Living Beyond Breast Cancer offers on-demand emotional, practical, and evidence-based content. For over 30 years, the organization has remained committed to creating a culture of acceptance — where sharing the diversity of the lived experience of breast cancer fosters self-advocacy and hope. For more information, learn more about our programs and services.