Eyes open. The Attention Training Technique asks you to focus on a visual fixation point and to maintain that visual focus throughout the exercise[1]. The script’s own example of a fixation point is a dot[1]. This is one of the clearest surface differences between ATT and the meditation practices it is often mistaken for, most of which are done with the eyes closed or softly lowered.

What the instruction actually is

Two parts, both specified:

  1. Fix your gaze on a point. Not a wandering gaze, not a soft unfocused stare at the room — a specific spot you keep looking at.
  2. Keep it there for the whole session, across all three phases[1].

Nothing in the protocol asks you to look at anything meaningful. The visual channel is being parked, not used.

Why the exercise is built this way

ATT is an auditory task. Everything the script asks for — hold one sound, switch between sounds, take them all in at once — happens in hearing[1]. Wells describes the technique’s aim as practising control of attention in a particular way rather than removing awareness of inner events[1], and the exercise is meant to stay attentionally demanding rather than become comfortable[1].

A fixed open gaze fits that design in a way closed eyes would not. It keeps the session anchored in the room rather than turning it inward, and it removes the visual field as something to steer attention with — the steering all has to happen in the sound.

The manual is explicit that the exercise should not be used as a distraction, avoidance, or symptom-management strategy, and is not intended as an emotion-management strategy[1]. Closing your eyes and settling into the audio is the shape of exactly the relaxation practice ATT is specified not to be.

Practical questions

Can I practise with my eyes closed anyway? You can, but you would be doing a variation that the published protocol does not describe and no study has tested. If you want to practise ATT as it is documented, the eyes stay open.

Does a screen count as a fixation point? The requirement is a point to hold your gaze on. A moving or changing display works against that, since it supplies its own attentional pulls; a still point does not.

What if I’m somewhere I can’t stare at one spot? Then the setting is the problem rather than the instruction. ATT is scheduled practice — the manual has it practised when the person is not in a state of anxiety or acute worry[1] — so it is meant to be done somewhere you can sit and hold a gaze, not opportunistically.

My eyes water or I blink a lot. Blinking is not a lapse. The instruction is about where your gaze rests, not about staring without blinking.

How to tell it is going right

The same way as with the sounds: by whether you bring it back. If you notice your gaze has drifted off the point and you return it, that is the exercise being performed correctly, not a failure. The manual treats being captured and refocusing as the expected pattern in the auditory task[1], and the visual instruction works the same way.

More on the misreadings that quietly change what you are practising: are you doing ATT right? For the full exercise, see the Attention Training Technique explained.

Questions and answers

Should I close my eyes during ATT?
No. The published protocol has you keep your eyes open and hold your gaze on a fixed visual point throughout the exercise.
What should I look at?
A fixation point — the manual's example is a dot. Anything stationary and unremarkable works; the point is that your gaze stays put rather than roaming.
Does it matter if my eyes drift?
Bringing your gaze back is the same kind of correction as bringing your attention back to a sound. The instruction is to maintain visual focus throughout.

References

  1. Wells, A. (2009). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. Guilford Press. Chapter 4: Attention Training Techniques.

Published by the makers of Heed, an app for practicing ATT-style sessions. iPhone · Android. Heed is a self-practice tool inspired by ATT research — not therapy, and not a medical device.