Re: Teaching Guided Imagery to Patients
I once had a patient who traveled from depressed and anxious to smiling and relaxed by visualizing a day at the beach. We began with sunlight and I just kept asking her what the next association was, encouraging her to visualize, smell or feel as we went along. I tried to pick up on details, like sand between the toes, sun glinting on water or the breeze.
Of course, this likely wouldn't work for everyone in the group as the person really needs to identify with the scene. Walking a few people through these during the group would be good for teaching everyone how it's done, though. There were four in the group on the day I did the above and everyone was in a good mood when we broke up.
D
Nursing News