IS GUIDED IMAGERY HEALING?
Medicine is beginning to recognize the power of the mind to positively impact outcomes. It is currently being accepted as a way to establish positive expectations toward healing. And is being used as a part of many cancer programs.
Guided imagery has been proven to be effective for working with many mind-body conditions including:
- Cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Pain
- Anxiety
- Immune function
- PTSD
- Cancer
Dr. Norman Shealy, the father of holistic medicine, and guided imagery expert, Belleruth Naparstek, discuss the many wonders of guided imagery as an alternative to drug treatment. (Dr. Shealy states that drugs are useful about 15% of the time. ) Dr. Shealy has authored and co-authored countless books worthy of note. Including:
- Medical Intuition: Your Awakening to Wholeness
- Energy Medicine: Practical Applications and Scientific Proof
- Sacred Healing: The Curing Power of Energy and Spirituality
- Miracles Do Happen: A Physician’s Experience with Alternative Medicine
Belleruth Naparstek’s books include:
GUIDED IMAGERY AND REGRESSION HYPNOSIS.
My go-to is always regression-to-cause simply because getting to the root of the problem and resolving it there ensures there’s nothing left to cause a recurrence of symptoms. So I tend to use what is traditionally called ‘guided imagery’ as a preliminary or polishing technique.
However, in the truest sense, regression to a past event is a form of guided imagery simply because the Subconscious Mind does not discriminate between an actual event and an imagined event. And there is considerable debate over how factual memory is. But I digress ….
To be client-centered in your approach to healing with hypnosis you must recognize that regression is not going to be appropriate for every client. For example, you may have friends or family members you can help. But exploring traumatic memories from their past would require a level of intimacy neither of you is uncomfortable with. Guided imagery work gives you a strategy that is more powerful than suggestion alone.
Clients with surface issues certainly do not require regression hypnosis. And regression is inadvisable in group hypnosis settings where you cannot control reactions. Adding guided imagery to your direct suggestion script utilizes the power of the Subconscious Mind which communicates through images and emotion.
Some clients are simply not ready for regression. Guided imagery gives you a preliminary technique you can use to prepare the client for the work you will be doing together with regression.
As a polishing technique guided imagery gives you a powerful tool for reinforcing all the changes that have occurred through the healing process. And as a stand-alone process you can use guided imagery as a gateway technique for regression hypnosis.
So, is guided imagery healing?
You betcha! Especially when it’s used hypnotically.
