How to Use Guided Imagery to Heal Post-Traumatic Stress
Are you experiencing the long-term effects of childhood trauma or post-traumatic stress? Is someone you love still dealing with it? If you are looking for effective healing strategies, consider adding guided imagery to any other form of therapy you choose or recommend.
"Many people in need of healing, whether physical or emotional, manage to intuitively come up with their own homegrown imagery for help in their recovery.
Some are able to consciously construct these images.
For others, the process is more like a magical visitation.
Images bubble up to the surface of their awareness, seemingly of their own accord.
" -Belleruth Naparstek, Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal This article is part of a series about the long-term impact of post-traumatic stress and the use of guided imagery for healing.
Reasons to Use Guided Imagery In a previous article, there were several reasons given for the use of imagery or visualization as a primary source of healing for trauma.
Some of them are...
1) One of the things we do naturally is use comforting images when we are stressed.
It is a habit that begins in infancy so it is easy to adapt for use in trauma healing.
2) Using imagery accesses the part of the brain where traumatic memories and trauma-based self-defeating thought patterns are stored.
3) Guided imagery helps restore balance to the brain chemistry of someone who has been traumatized.
This article will tell you how to use imagery for healing.
How to Use Imagery for Healing PTSD 1) You can create your own imagery and record it in your own voice so you can listen whenever you need it.
"Sometimes these visualizations are like a spontaneous spiritual healing...
something emerges that is exactly what is needed to heal.
"-Beverly Donovan, Ph.
D, psychologist in Brecksville, Ohio.
2) You can use scripted imagery if you don't feel confident about creating your own.
In a research study comparing the effectiveness of scripted imagery vs.
imagery that was self-generated, both were found to work well, but the people using it seemed to have more confidence in the scripted imagery and thus, were more likely to stick with it.
If you decide to use scripted imagery, you can work directly with a guided imagery practitioner or use guided imagery that has been recorded.
If you work with a practitioner, the imagery will be personalized for you and your trauma experiences and can be adjusted as you go along.
On the other hand, you may prefer to do your healing work in private, and in that case, a recording might work best.
3) You can create meditations for children or teenagers or find recordings designed for them.
Though outwardly, they may protest the idea of guided imagery, children and teenagers often find it easier to settle into the world of imagery because they are so still so naturally skilled at doing so.
"Many people in need of healing, whether physical or emotional, manage to intuitively come up with their own homegrown imagery for help in their recovery.
Some are able to consciously construct these images.
For others, the process is more like a magical visitation.
Images bubble up to the surface of their awareness, seemingly of their own accord.
" -Belleruth Naparstek, Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal This article is part of a series about the long-term impact of post-traumatic stress and the use of guided imagery for healing.
Reasons to Use Guided Imagery In a previous article, there were several reasons given for the use of imagery or visualization as a primary source of healing for trauma.
Some of them are...
1) One of the things we do naturally is use comforting images when we are stressed.
It is a habit that begins in infancy so it is easy to adapt for use in trauma healing.
2) Using imagery accesses the part of the brain where traumatic memories and trauma-based self-defeating thought patterns are stored.
3) Guided imagery helps restore balance to the brain chemistry of someone who has been traumatized.
This article will tell you how to use imagery for healing.
How to Use Imagery for Healing PTSD 1) You can create your own imagery and record it in your own voice so you can listen whenever you need it.
"Sometimes these visualizations are like a spontaneous spiritual healing...
something emerges that is exactly what is needed to heal.
"-Beverly Donovan, Ph.
D, psychologist in Brecksville, Ohio.
2) You can use scripted imagery if you don't feel confident about creating your own.
In a research study comparing the effectiveness of scripted imagery vs.
imagery that was self-generated, both were found to work well, but the people using it seemed to have more confidence in the scripted imagery and thus, were more likely to stick with it.
If you decide to use scripted imagery, you can work directly with a guided imagery practitioner or use guided imagery that has been recorded.
If you work with a practitioner, the imagery will be personalized for you and your trauma experiences and can be adjusted as you go along.
On the other hand, you may prefer to do your healing work in private, and in that case, a recording might work best.
3) You can create meditations for children or teenagers or find recordings designed for them.
Though outwardly, they may protest the idea of guided imagery, children and teenagers often find it easier to settle into the world of imagery because they are so still so naturally skilled at doing so.
Source...