Our Innovative Approach to:
Imagery Training
It is in human nature to resist change since our brains interpret unfamiliar situations as potential danger. Even though it is difficult, science tells us that we can override that resistance to change with a method known as Functional Imagery Training (FIT).
FIT trains us to imagine our future in our mind's eye in multi-sensory detail, and as a result, we create neuropathways that embrace change before we experience it.
Brain scans have shown that when we imagine an event happening in vivid detail, it activates the same regions of the brain as the real thing.
For example, a person imagining swinging a tennis racquet uses the same supplemental motor area – the cerebellum and premotor cortex – used when actually swinging a racquet. When you repeat the motion over and over in your imagination, it becomes how you swing.
With FIT, we see results beyond the tennis court in common struggles like weight loss, exercise, relationships, and even pain.
What Makes Us Different
We change human behavior for the better. It works for Olympians, world-class teams, and elite forces, and it can work for you. Our proven approach centers around what we call Choice Points—split-second decisions we make every day, all day. Do you stay in bed, or do you go for a run? Do you reach for the apple or the chocolate cake? Speak up in a meeting or remain silent? All these small choice points add up.
Imagery Coaching is a practical and tactical program that teaches you how to manage your Choice Points. (We even wrote a book about it.) We designed it to ignite your imagination and amplify you.
Our science-based program is backed by over two decades of research in Functional Imagery Training. Unlike most coaching methods, FIT is a proven multi-sensory imagery approach measuring and training seven senses. Along with sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, we work with emotion and movement. We know emotion drives human behavior into action — and imagery is emotional. Want to know your imagery score? We invite you to take the measure designed by the research team at the University of Plymouth.
How Functional Imagery Training Works
Functional Imagery Training (FIT) is a method of supporting behavior change. It uses collaborative techniques to help people think about (then act upon) their most important goals through motivational interviewing and merges mental imagery to amplify motivation. The research has found that people who receive FIT persevere with goals for longer and have a high degree of goal achievement.
Our aim is to teach people how to apply motivational imagery themselves using behavioral cues that activate imagery (and self-talk), which creates a bespoke imagery practice and builds self-regulation and resilience.
FIT has been used to support individuals and teams achieve their goals, from CEOs to soldiers in the British military. We call imagery a superpower. It's one great skill athletes have known about for years. When Joanna Grover interviewed Martina Navratilova and five-time Olympian Anne Kursinski, they attributed their record-breaking achievements to an essential practice: imagining success.
Through FIT, we teach others how to harness their imagination and consequently tap into their superpower.
Learn more about Functional Imagery Training
To learn more about Functional Imagery Training, we invite you to listen to our podcasts, where we discuss the science. Also, look at the published research by our Co-Founder, Dr. Jonathan Rhodes, and many others.
MEASURE YOUR IMAGERY ABILITY
Did you know that your ability to imagine is linked to your resilience? Your imagination can influence the choices you make, which in turn affects your actions.
Explore the possibilities and unlock your potential by taking our online Imagery Measure.
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![Kevin Allen headshot, testimonials for Imagery Coaching]()
“I hate to speak in superlatives, but [functional imagery Training] was life changing, simple as that. and I have had a lot of executive coaching experience all throughout my career.”
— Kevin Allen
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![Wilbur Hitt Headshot for Testimonial]()
"Functional Imagery Training was highly effective in helping me focus on exactly what my goal is and how to avoid the extreme, often counterproductive, measures I have employed in the past."
— Wilbur Hitt, MD ObGyn, Department Chair and Residency program director at a major teaching hospital
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![Houston Thomas headshot for testimonial about Imagery Coaching]()
[With imagery] I feel more in control of my life, and it's not in terms of 'I'm the person moving the pieces in my life', but a better understanding of what I want, what I don't want, what I expect from myself, what I expect from other people, how I maneuver through the world, and also what's important to me and the people that I love.”
— Houston Thomas, Freelance Choreographer and Former Soloist with The Dresden Semperoper Ballett.
