Future Self Visualization
Some Definitions
A mental image can be defined as “a thought with sensory qualities.” It is something we mentally see, hear, taste, smell, touch, or feel.
Interactive Imagination is a form of guided imagery, which encompasses a variety of techniques, including future self visualization, positive visualization, suggestion using imagery, parts-work, brainstorming metaphors, personal story-telling, fantasy exploration, playing games, interpreting dreams, and graphical coaching, where elements of the unconscious are invited to appear as entities that can communicate with the conscious mind.
Once considered an “alternative” or “fringe” science, guided imagery is now accepted and understood in the scientific, medical, and general public arenas. It is being used to teach psychophysiological relaxation, alleviate anxiety and depression, relieve physical and psychological symptoms, overcome health-endangering habits, resolve conflicts, and can even help patients prepare for surgery.
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Background
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Long before we learn to understand and use words, we form mental images, and these lie at the core of our identity, our world-view, our expectations of what we believe we deserve, and what we think our future holds.
These images strongly influence our health, both physical and mental, and have formed the basis of ancient and modern healing rituals in various cultures. Research has shown that many of these practices have a certain level of clinical efficacy, and while we may attribute some therapeutic benefits to “placebo effects”, they have real and measurable effects with important implications for our understanding of the healing process.
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Academy for Guided Imagery
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In the early 1970s, Drs. David Bresler and Martin Rossman founded the Academy for Guided Imagery and developed contemporary imagery approaches for patients coping with chronic pain, immune dysfunction, cancer, heart disease, and other catastrophic and life-threatening illnesses. The Academy integrates techniques originating from Jungian psychology, Gestalt therapy, Psychosynthesis, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, object relations theory, humanistic psychology, and advanced communications theory.
As a graduate of the Academy, I am qualified to use Interactive Guided Imageryâ„ , an extremely powerful, yet remarkably safe and rapid therapeutic approach for mobilizing the untapped healing resources of the mind.
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“Interactive Guided Imageryâ„ ” is a service mark of the Academy for Guided Imagery.
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