Therapeutic Imagery 401

Hypnosis Haven Weekly Digest

Therapeutic Imagery 401 An overview on Therapeutic Imagery and how it can help.

Why does Guided Therapeutic Imagery work? by Susana Padilla on July 2016

“Each of us has his own rhythm of suffering.” -Roland Barthes

Most of us have heard the saying ‘an image is worth a thousand words’, and that has come to be a great known for many of us. Symbols and images have been the way of communicating for ages, and before photographic images, we had words to paint pictures. The language of the storyteller is what made the images come alive in the minds of those who were there to listen. When people who did not speak the same language met, it was with drawings in the dirt or cave walls that they were able to communicate, relate. To look at a photo of a pyramid for instance, it may mean something completely different to each observer, everyone can be taken to a different place in time by looking at the same photo. And just as a photograph can create a different emotion or mental image for each individual, so too does the imagery work that we do create the unique mental environment for each client. For instance, if you were to close your eyes and were guided through a physical relaxation so that when we get to your mind and begin to work on addressing the goals of therapy; if I were to tell you to imagine the coast and the waves coming up to your feet, to some people that would be terrible while for others it would be the best place to be. Which is why it is in the way the mental journeys are depicted that the individual client will be able to gain the most for their own session. It would be much more conducive if you were to be guided to your own special place, a place that may or may not be familiar to you, a place where you can rest in comfort. A place in nature perhaps, where you may find a path or a trail that will take you to ….

“Every exploration is an appropriation.”

- Roland Barthes

When the words of the Therapeutic Imagery Master are heard during a session, the client will create visions and images within their mind that will not be known to anyone else unless it is part of a private session. During the session, the Imagery Master will be able to facilitate the journey of discovery and help the client to find answers within themselves. Sometimes the clients expect to find one thing and another image comes up, even when taking the same journey more than once, the images will not always be the same. If the client is not able to “see” an image but rather gets the memory of a scent, or only sees colors, that is still a part of Imagery as Imagery encompasses all of the senses, and therefore, there is something to learn from that. The images the clients experience stay with them for as long as they can or want to hold on to them. What is seen is not unlike what is seen in a movie or a photo, the details are all there, the vividness of the moment, the lessons, everything is always there and accessible to the client. Clients can return to those images if they so desire to in future sessions or in dreams.

So what can we attain from a journey?

Many books and journeys have been written to help facilitate the mental landscape for clients to find: Inner Strength, Overcome Fears, Increase Motivation, Immune Boosting, Stress Management, Goal Attainment, to Silence the Inner Critic, Pre and Post Surgical aid, and so much more. Often times, clients come in to help find an answer that only they can give themselves. There are those questions in life that we wish someone could just answer for us and tell us to pick this or that, here or there, now or later, but no one does because it really is up to the individual. So then where can someone go to find the answer? WITHIN!! Within because the heart and mind ultimately know and it is a matter of learning to listen to our inner intuition that can help with those difficult decisions.

I invite you to take a journey and allow your mind to bring up an image that stands for each option and then see what comes of it. Contact me if you have any questions about Therapeutic Imagery. I look forward to your questions and appointments.

Susana Padilla

Susana@HypnosisHaven.com

Hypnosis-Haven.com

NEXT ISSUE

When is the best time to come in for a Guided Therapeutic Imagery Session? When can I expect to see changes or results? by Susana Padilla on August 2016