{"id":10,"date":"2011-05-25T15:01:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T15:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rivertoseacounseling.com\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2012-02-28T15:54:07","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T15:54:07","slug":"about-therapeutic-imagery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.rivertoseacounseling.com\/?page_id=10","title":{"rendered":"What is Imagery?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagery Definitions and Applications<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cI can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself. I can throw open to you no picture gallery but your own…I help you to make your own world visible. That is all.\u201d<\/em>
\n– Herman Hesse<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagery Definitions<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Here are a few definitions of imagery from important contributors in the field of therapeutic imagery.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\"\"<\/a>What exactly is imagery?<\/strong>\u00a0 Essentially, it is a flow of thoughts you can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste.\u00a0 An image is an inner representation of your experience or your fantasies—a way your mind codes, stores, and expresses information.\u00a0 Imagery is the currency of dreams and daydreams, memories and reminiscence; plans, projections, and possibilities.\u00a0 It is the language of the arts, the emotions, and most important, of the deeper self.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Martin Rossman,\u00a0 Guided Imagery for Self-Healing<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What is imagery?<\/strong>\u00a0 Imagery is the thought process that involves and uses the senses: vision, audition, smell, taste, the senses of movement, position, and touch.\u00a0 It is the communication mechanism between perception, emotion and bodily change.\u00a0 A major cause of both health and sickness, the image is the world\u2019s oldest and greatest healing resource.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Jeanne Ackterberg, Imagery In Healing<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Imagery is the universal language of the unconscious.<\/strong>\u00a0 Thinking in pictures precedes thinking in words, and this type of primary thinking continues to be a part of subjective experience throughout life in the form of dreams, fantasies, and imagination.\u00a0 Imagery is a powerful tool for self-regulation and self-development, and can also be a vehicle for profound intuitive insights.\u00a0 Imagery is associated with direct perception, and conveys in an instant feelings and observations which would take many words to describe.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Frances E. Vaughan, Awakening Intuition<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The image is the intermediary gift<\/strong> between the outer light of the stars and the light which burns within, in an all seeing way.\u00a0 It is the basis of humanity\u2019s experience and expression.\u00a0 What is art, literature, religion or mythology without image?\u00a0 What is childhood and youth without image?\u00a0 What is thinking about the future without image?<\/em><\/p>\n

Science has told us much about the image-perceiver and especially about the mechanistic structure of the eye; but it has told us little of imagery\u2019s mythic potential toward action.\u00a0 Until recently, we studied our word paths and behavior patterns, and made endless analyses of conflict, but now the field has truly matured and emerged into its own in the investigation of the IMAGE itself, the heroic core within the stream of consciousness.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Akter Ahsen, Chairperson, 5th<\/sup> American Imagery Conference<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Imagery Applications<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Imagery interventions have been used to help deal with the following:<\/p>\n