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Psychoeducation~15 min

Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System

A Compassion Focused Therapy practice for settling the body and mind. Using slow breathing and gentle imagery, you build up three linked experiences - a soothing rhythm of breath, a safe and calm place, and a warm, wise, accepting compassionate presence - to help your soothing system come online when you most need it.

Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed

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FOR THERAPIST-SUPPORTED USE, ideally introduced and practised first with your therapist. What this is for: We carry at least three emotion systems. One drives us toward things we want, one protects us by sensing threat, and one helps us feel safe, soothed, and connected - the soothing system. When we are stressed or very self-critical, the threat system runs hot and the soothing system can feel switched off. These practices gently exercise the soothing system, a bit like building up a muscle. The point is not to get rid of difficult feelings, but to add a warmer, calmer presence alongside them. How to approach it: Go slowly and kindly, and treat it as practice rather than a test. Imagery is not about seeing a crisp, photo-perfect picture. Many people only get a vague sense, a feeling, a fragment, or a fleeting image, and that is completely fine - the felt sense matters more than the picture. If your mind wanders (it will), just notice and come gently back. Some people find a particular sense (a colour, a sound, a warmth, a scent) easier than seeing pictures - lead with whatever comes most naturally to you. Safety: For some people - especially those who have experienced trauma, or who are highly self-critical - warmth, kindness, and soothing can paradoxically feel unsafe and switch the threat system ON rather than off. This is well recognised and is sometimes called fear of compassion. It does not mean the practice is wrong for you or that you are doing it badly; it is useful information to bring to your therapist. If at any point you feel more distressed, frightened, numb, or overwhelmed, it is fine to stop, open your eyes, feel your feet on the floor, and ground yourself - and to pause this practice until you can do it with your therapist's support. This is a self-help practice, not a treatment for crisis. If you feel unsafe or are thinking of harming yourself, contact your therapist or GP, call 999, or call the Samaritans free on 116 123. Attribution: Compassionate imagery, soothing rhythm breathing, the safe place, and the compassionate image (sometimes called the perfect nurturer) are core practices of Compassion Focused Therapy, developed by Professor Paul Gilbert. The wording here is original.

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Settling In

Find a position that feels reasonably comfortable and steady, sitting or lying down. You can let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a spot in front of you - whichever feels safer for you. Let your face soften, perhaps with the gentlest hint of a friendly expression. There is nowhere to get to and nothing to force. You are simply going to practise, gently, for a little while.

Step 1 - Soothing Rhythm Breathing

This is the foundation - a calm, even rhythm of breath that tells your body it is safe to settle. Let your breathing slow down a little, so it is slightly slower and deeper than usual, but still comfortable - never strained. Breathe down into your belly so it rises gently on the in-breath and falls on the out-breath. Find a smooth, even rhythm, with the in-breath and out-breath about the same length. Some people like to count slowly, for example in for about three or four, and out for about three or four. As you breathe, notice a slight slowing down inside, as if your whole body is easing. Stay here for a minute or two, just letting your body find its soothing rhythm. If your mind wanders, simply bring it back to the breath, without telling yourself off.

Step 2 - Your Safe or Calm Place

Keeping that slow, soothing rhythm of breath, let an image come to mind of a place where you feel safe, calm, and at ease. It can be real or imagined - a quiet beach, a warm room, a forest, a hillside, anywhere that feels right to you. Let it build through your senses, gently and without forcing: What can you see around you - the colours, the light, the space? What can you hear - perhaps waves, birdsong, a soft wind, or stillness? What can you feel - warmth on your skin, a gentle breeze, the ground supporting you? Are there any scents in the air? As you rest here, allow a quiet sense that this place welcomes you - that it is glad you are here, pleased to have you, and wants you to feel safe. Take a little time to simply be in your place.

Step 3 - Your Compassionate Image

Now, still breathing slowly, allow an image to form of a compassionate presence - a warm, wise, completely accepting figure whose whole wish is for you to be free from suffering and to flourish. This can be a person, a figure, an animal, a light, a colour, or simply a sense of presence. It does not need to be a real or perfect picture - a feeling or a fragment is enough. Give your compassionate image the qualities that matter most: deep warmth and kindness toward you; strength and steadiness, so it can stay with you through anything; wisdom that truly understands what it is to struggle and be human; and complete acceptance, with no judgement and no criticism at all. Imagine this presence turning its warm attention toward you, wishing you well, perhaps with a kind expression or a gentle, encouraging voice. Notice what it is like to be on the receiving end of that warmth - to be cared for in this way. If it feels difficult, that is okay; just allow whatever small sense of it you can.

Coming Back

When you are ready, let the images gently fade, while keeping any sense of warmth or calm that is here. Take a slower breath or two. Feel your feet on the floor and your body supported. Notice the sounds in the room around you, and when you are ready, let your eyes open. There is no need to judge how the practice went - you simply practised.

Record Your Practice

Jotting down what happened helps you and your therapist notice what works for you and what to adjust. There are no right answers.

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When to use ‘Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System’

‘Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.

It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.

How it works

Most people work through it in around 15 minutes. It moves through six short steps:

  1. Settling In — Find a position that feels reasonably comfortable and steady, sitting or lying down. You can let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a…
  2. Step 1 - Soothing Rhythm Breathing — This is the foundation - a calm, even rhythm of breath that tells your body it is safe to settle. Let your breathing slow down a little,…
  3. Step 2 - Your Safe or Calm Place — Keeping that slow, soothing rhythm of breath, let an image come to mind of a place where you feel safe, calm, and at ease. It can be real…
  4. Step 3 - Your Compassionate Image — Now, still breathing slowly, allow an image to form of a compassionate presence - a warm, wise, completely accepting figure whose whole…
  5. Coming Back — When you are ready, let the images gently fade, while keeping any sense of warmth or calm that is here. Take a slower breath or two. Feel…
  6. Record Your Practice — Jotting down what happened helps you and your therapist notice what works for you and what to adjust. There are no right answers.

Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.

The CBT approach behind it

In common with other CBT methods, ‘Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System’ works by building a kinder, more balanced relationship with oneself (compassion-focused work). The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.

Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.

Evidence & sources

This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:

  • Gilbert, P. (2009). The Compassionate Mind. London: Constable.
  • Gilbert, P. (2010). Compassion Focused Therapy: Distinctive Features. London: Routledge.
  • Lee, D.A. (2005). The perfect nurturer: A model to develop a compassionate mind within the context of cognitive therapy. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Conceptualisations, Research and Use in Psychotherapy. London: Brunner-Routledge.

For use alongside professional support

Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.

If you need urgent help now:

  • Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
  • Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
  • SANEline: 0800 689 5555 — 4:30pm–10:30pm, every day

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