Heh... guided imagery....................

been a "practitioner" since early childhood when there was no term/name for it. I was the ultimate daydreamer... great for denial issues, too !

Seriously, it IS wonderful, I just don't understand why people have to be "taught" to do this.. I always thought it was something ppl did naturally on their own... a common sense thing to do to relieve stress, no?

guided imagery

I have used it on several occasions. It can be a very effective tool in giving the client a subjective sense of relief and possibly allowing them to resolve psychological conflicts. It is, and must be understood as, a form of hypnotism. As such it has almost no objective significance. It is not a reliable diagnostic tool. It is possible to do great harm using hypnotic techniques. It is possible to, for example, relieve the pain associated with real physical disorders, so that effective treatment is not sought.

Science is the tool that modern medicine and nursing is founded on. Science demands that therapy be shown to have objective value. Objective truth in a scientific sense is found through the use of double blind studies involving statisticly significant samplings.

I get very uncomfortable when supposed health care professionals say they "believe in" a form of therapy, in the sense of believing it is real. Scientific Health Care is not about what we think is real but about what can be proven to be real.

Every few years someone trots out another effect based on hypnosis in its various forms and calls it a therapy. No harm in that so long as it bills itself as only dealing with the subjective experience of the patient and not with the objective real world. Help the patient deal with his fears, fine. Help him focus on healing himself of AIDS or Cancer, excellent. But if you tell him that by means of your guided imagery or whatever, you will make it unnecessary that he take those nasty pills or have that surgery, then what you do has another name than "therapy". It is "quackery" at the least and "murder" at the worst.

Re: Anyone practice Guided Imagery?

I use it when patients are painful or stressed or worried or basically whenever it seems right.
I use a really simple one: Feet on floor or if not sitting then feel them rest against the bottom of the bed. Feel the earth between your toes, feel the grass around your toes and over your feet to your ankles. Feel yourself connecting to the earth. Now feel the sun on your head, feel the gold soothing light as it warms your head and travels thru your body. Feel the strength of the earth hold ing you firm and safel and the gold sunlight as it warms and sooths you...
Thats the abbreviated version. Its more of a grounding technique I learned when I first delved into psychic stuff but it really really calms people down and helps them focus. I had one patient using the images as she was working on weaning from the vent and she said it helped.
edit: and I also never use it in place of medical treatments or interventions. Just as an adjunct.

Re: Anyone practice Guided Imagery?

use Guided Imagery pre & post op. Working in a PACU, the clients often are anxious about their surgery. It helps to take them to a happy place in their minds eye, without the side effects of hypnotics, sedatives, etc. Works well in conjuction to meds as well. This is a technique easily taught to client/family & can be done to allow the client control over their own situation. I also use it with the Relaxation Response (Dr. Herbert Benson-Harvard Univ.). This is all part of the Holsitic Approach to care.

Re: Anyone practice Guided Imagery?

Guided Imagery could be in the same time very dangerous if it is used by unqualiefied instructors or if you did not have a preassessment and a full psychiatric assessment of patient.
At soon as the client will learn the technique and fund it helpful, he will used it in life from day to day in a series of different situations supposed or not to be for guided imagery.
Like nurse you could be very carefully with whom, and in what conditions you will teach him/her to use GI.