Guided Imagery Essays

I have integrated various holistic practices into my treatment plans including acupuncture, yoga, massage, meditation and prayer. I also discuss and recommend the importance of balance in our lives, which is a major philosophy of Ayurvedic Medicine, “balance between body, mind and spirit” (What is the philosophy, n.d.). I stress how healthy choices regarding diet, exercise and relationships can impact a patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual balance in their life.

This is a sample of imagery allowing readers to visualize in their minds what is happening.

Metaphor and imagery have a long history in psychotherapy, metaphor building up the relationship between the client and the psychotherapist (building trust, empathy and understanding). Metaphor is very powerful and can raise self- awareness and help clients to see more or less the full picture of the client inner world. Metaphor and imagery as used in the therapeutic relationship to building up the link between the inner world and external world is abstract but very powerful and can help the client to link between the here and now and the past (the echo of a significant event or situation in which the client feels stuck, in an impasse or in a dilemma not solved). Metaphor and imagery help the client to move in a positive way

Once the subject is relaxed, the therapist may invite them to use visualisation to visit a ‘special place’ where they feel safe and happy, and will usually give them permission to ‘stay’ there for some time. The special place can later be used as a trigger so that, once back to an alert state, the subject can use it whenever they need

An increasing number of medical schools are now offering courses in alternative medicine for their students, and some hospitals already have alternative medicine departments. The availability of healers and doctors practicing holistic medicine has also increased in recent years, and more and more people are educating themselves in these new fields. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that between 65 and 80 percent of the world’s population (about 3 billion people) rely on traditional medicine as their primary form of health care.

Mental Imagery plays a role in our lives, it helps us plan for the future and make decisions. Although there are some people who never experience mental imagery. There are many

One excellent example is, “Imagine that I’m a professor, you walk down, come though the doorway, sit down at a table…” (Gladwell, Primed for Action). Gladwell describes a character moving through a simple situation. Although this example may seem a bit vague, it provides an image within the reader’s mind of what that particular situation may look like. As Americans, we do this quite frequently, when we think of a certain event or social gathering we are planning on attending or even being forced to attend, we draw up and image within our minds. Sometimes said image may be a good image, with everything occurring exactly as you have thought those events would happen. Sadly, many times within our minds, not everything is pictured in a positive way. We may think of a social event where we may be shunned by everyone else attending the event because of one bad comment we spoke, or our taste in music or other entertainment. Another example of imagery within the book is the quote, “Predicting Divorce, like tracking Morse code operators, is pattern recognition.” (Gladwell, the Secrets of the Bedroom). This example, once again, gives us an image of this certain situation with the use of “Morse code operators” to provide some sort of image for our minds to

Today we have alternative medicine which was developed thousands of years ago and have a long-standing historical value of effectiveness, advantages, and some drawbacks. Diagnosis was the first approach to any illness. Alternative medicine looks at the factors of equilibrium and the environment in which one lives and the disease is considered an imbalance between the two; cleansing the whole body than on a particular problem to get the balance back in sync. Very much the description of the Buddhist and the Greek cultures of medicine and healing the

According to Ietswaart et al., (2011), “Due to cognitively demanding nature of mental practice, careful consideration in designing the intervention is given to facilitate the mental practice process, drawing on the cognitive neuroscience evidence base” (p.3). In this practice, demonstrating a wide range of sensory inputs and illustrative depiction of movement can trigger action simulation in the brain. For example, visual and auditory inputs facilitate accessing the content of motor images in conjunction with verbal information because language resonates with motor representations, and activation of motor areas can, therefore, be achieved through the verbal route. Likewise, the use of objects can be applied in mental practice because it enables visual perception of the objects to promote action. In fact, mental practice has shown to contain both the kinesthetic and the biomechanical constraints associated with the action, as well as the spatial coordinates of the action. Therefore, the visual imagery modality (i.e., “seeing” your hand move) can be used to characterize the spatial coordinates (i.e., distance and location), and the kinesthetic imagery modality (i.e., “feeling” your hand move) can be used to embody the biomechanical constraints. Following the rationale, both verbal and visual information can facilitate mental practice which can be achieved through the use of mental imagery scripts that are recited by the therapists while working on activities of daily living with the patients. These scripts describe the muscular sensations of the movements. For example, the therapist would have planned out an activity that requires the client to reach for a pen.

* The study results show a significant improvement in the pain score of the women that underwent the guided imagery treatment. We rejected the null hypothesis that stated the interventional and control group means are equal. The result of the study show that the two groups are in fact significantly different.

This study provided valuable insights to the usefulness of visual imagery. Movement is an important property to visual imagery (Powell, 1986). Movement provides insight into various learning strategies to help assist children who are in need of occupational therapy (Powell. 1986). Many visual images contain illumination and color (Powell, 1986). Occupational therapists must be aware of the differences existing among individuals. Powell (1986) states, “Some will have a better

The use of imagery in a short story has a great deal of effect on the impact of the story. A story with effective imagery will give the reader a clear mental picture of what is happening and enhance what the writer is trying to convey to the reader. William Faulkner exhibits excellent imagery that portrays vivid illustrations in ones mind that enhances, “A Rose for Emily”. The following paragraphs will demonstrate how Faulkner uses imagery to illustrate descriptive pictures of people, places and things that allow Faulkner to titillate the senses.

Visualization is a common term used to describe guided imagery or the process of forming images in our mind like pictures or moves, images recreating our best performances, and the way it feels to perform just the way we want it to. These images can be visual, kinesthetic- how our body feels, tactile-how it feels to the touch, auditory-how it sounds, even olfactory-what we smell. Using mind power we can call upon these images over and over, enhancing skill through repetition rehearsal. The mind and body can become more prepared to actually perform the skill, and can improve both physical and mental reactions in certain situations. The developing athletes, who make the fastest progress and who ultimately become their best, make extensive use of mental imagery. They use it daily, as a means of directing what will happen in training, and as a way of pre-experiencing their best competition performances. Mental imagery often starts out simply, as you think though your goals, your moves, and your desired competitive performances.

Jung made some major contributions in psychotherapy. Jung was the first to say that a therapist himself must be analyzed (Storr, 1991). Unlike Freud who had his patients lie on a couch, Jung suggested that face to face contact with a patient was essential (Storr, 1991). He wanted to see his patients face. He also saw patients less times a week then Freud did (Storr, 1991). He stated that he did not want his patients to stop living their normal everyday lives. Dreams were an important aspect of Jung’s psychotherapy. He dedicated a great deal of time and work on the interpretation of dreams

These therapies have proved to be of much benefit in supporting the normal healing course of the body. Even though there are many modern alternative remedies, with different beliefs, all of them operate under some common principles. One of these principles is that the body has the capacity to heal naturally and maintain stability (Paquette, 2000). The other one is that adverse health conditions can occur as a result of factors emanating from mind, emotions and the body. Alternative medicine, according to Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, (2002), focuses on determining the chief cause of a particular condition, and dealing with the whole person rather that concentrating on symptoms. If a person pays close attention to his/her health he/she can contribute to his/her wellbeing. Alternative medicine holds firmly to the principle that one treatment cannot be used for all people even though they may be suffering from the same condition. Each and every person as per alternative medicine has distinct bodily, mind and spiritual make up (Goldberg, Trivieri and Anderson, 2002).