Imagery Definitions and Applications
“I 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.”
– Herman Hesse
Imagery Definitions
Here are a few definitions of imagery from important contributors in the field of therapeutic imagery.
What exactly is imagery? Essentially, it is a flow of thoughts you can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. An image is an inner representation of your experience or your fantasies—a way your mind codes, stores, and expresses information. Imagery is the currency of dreams and daydreams, memories and reminiscence; plans, projections, and possibilities. It is the language of the arts, the emotions, and most important, of the deeper self.
—Martin Rossman, Guided Imagery for Self-Healing
What is imagery? Imagery is the thought process that involves and uses the senses: vision, audition, smell, taste, the senses of movement, position, and touch. It is the communication mechanism between perception, emotion and bodily change. A major cause of both health and sickness, the image is the world’s oldest and greatest healing resource.
—Jeanne Ackterberg, Imagery In Healing
Imagery is the universal language of the unconscious. 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. Imagery is a powerful tool for self-regulation and self-development, and can also be a vehicle for profound intuitive insights. Imagery is associated with direct perception, and conveys in an instant feelings and observations which would take many words to describe.
—Frances E. Vaughan, Awakening Intuition
The image is the intermediary gift between the outer light of the stars and the light which burns within, in an all seeing way. It is the basis of humanity’s experience and expression. What is art, literature, religion or mythology without image? What is childhood and youth without image? What is thinking about the future without image?
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’s mythic potential toward action. 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.
—Akter Ahsen, Chairperson, 5th American Imagery Conference
Imagery Applications
Imagery interventions have been used to help deal with the following:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Relationship Problems
- Pain Management/Physical Symptoms
- Basic Relaxation
- Trauma Recovery
- Addiction Recovery
- Inner Child Work
- Grief & Loss; Preparation for Death
- Deeper Intrapsychic Conflict Resolution
- Spiritual Growth/Search for Meaning
- Dream Work
