Using Mental Imagery in Counselling and Psychotherapy

The therapeutic potential of working with clients' mental images is widely acknowledged, yet there is still little in the counselling and psychotherapy literature on more inclusive approaches to the clinical applications of mental imagery. Using Mental Imagery in Counselling and Psychotherapy is a unique, accessible guide for counsellors and psychotherapists who wish to develop their expertise in this important therapeutic practice. Contemporary practitioners have at their disposal a large repertoire of imagery methods and procedures comprising the contributions from different therapeutic schools and clinical innovators. Valerie Thomas identifies some of the common features in these approaches and offers a transtheoretical framework that supports integrative practitioners in understanding and using mental imagery to enhance therapeutic processes. The book: - Examines the development of the theory and practice of mental imagery within a wider context of the history of imagination as a healing modality; - Describes the different ways that mental imagery has been incorporated into therapeutic practice and evaluates recent developments; - Reviews explanations of the therapeutic efficacy of mental imagery and considers how recent theoretical concepts provide a means of understanding the role that mental images play in processing experience; - Includes reflections on ways to develop more inclusive theory and proposes a model that can inform integrative practice. Using a wide range of clinical vignettes to illustrate theory and cutting-edge research, Valerie Thomas proposes a new integrated model of practice. Providing clear and detailed guidance on applying the model to clinical practice, the book will be essential reading for psychotherapists and counsellors, both in practice and training, who wish to harness the therapeutic efficacy of mental imagery.

Valerie Thomas is a counsellor, psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice. Formerly, she was a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and Course Leader for Counselling training.

Acknowledgements Preface 1. Introduction PART ONE: Towards more inclusive theory 2. An historical perspective on the therapeutic use of imagination 3. The story of using mental imagery in counselling and psychotherapy 4. Explanations for the therapeutic efficacy of mental imagery 5. Identifying common features in the use of mental imagery in talking therapies 6. Developing a more inclusive model of mental imagery in therapeutic practice PART TWO: Towards more inclusive practice 7. An introduction to the model in practice 8. The building image 9. The path image 10. The plant image 11. Integrating a more inclusive approach to mental imagery into ongoing therapeutic work 12. Practice issues 13. Conclusion