Guided Imagery Health Article

Preparations

For a successful guided imagery session, individuals should select a quiet, relaxing location where there is a comfortable place to sit or recline. If the guided imagery session is to be prompted with an audiotape or videotape, a stereo, VCR, or portable tape player should be available. Some people find that quiet background music improves their imagery sessions.

The session, which can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, should be uninterrupted. Taking the phone off the hook and asking family members for solitude can ensure a more successful and relaxing session.

Imagery combined with other relaxation techniques such as yoga, massage, or aromatherapy can greatly enhance the effects of these therapies. It can be done virtually anywhere.

Precautions

Because of the state of extreme relaxation involved in guided imagery, individuals should never attempt to use guided imagery while driving or operating heavy machinery.

Side effects

Guided imagery can induce sleepiness, and some individuals may fall asleep during a session. Other than this, there are no known adverse side effects to guided imagery.

Research and general acceptance

Use of guided imagery is a widely accepted practice among mental healthcare providers and is gaining acceptance as a powerful pain control tool across a number of medical disciplines. Results of a study conducted at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and published in 1999 found that cardiac surgery patients who used a guided imagery tape prior to surgery experienced less pain and anxiety. These patients also left the hospital earlier following surgery than patients who used pain medication only.

Another study conducted by Harvard Medical School researchers found that for more than 200 patients undergoing invasive vascular or renal surgery, guided imagery controlled pain and anxiety more effectively than medication alone.

BOOKS

Battino, Rubin. Guided Imagery and Other Approaches to Healing. Carmarthen, United Kingdom: Crown House Publishing, 2000.

PERIODICALS

Lang, Elvira, et al. "Adjunctive non-pharmacological analgesia for invasive medical procedures: a randomized trial." The Lancet. 355, no. 9214, (April 2000): 1486-1490.

ORGANIZATIONS

The Academy for Guided Imagery. P.O. Box 2070, Mill Valley, CA 94942. (800) 726-2070.

OTHER

Brennan, Patricia. "Stress First Aid Kit." (Guided imagery audiotape set.) Available from Inside Out Publishing at (888) 727-3296 or <http://www.facingthedawn.com>.

Paula Ford-Martin

KEY TERMS

Aromatherapy—The therapeutic use of plant-derived, aromatic essential oils to promote physical and psychological well-being.

Autonomic nervous system—The part of the nervous system that controls so-called involuntary functions such as heart rate, salivary gland secretion, respiratory function, and pupil dilation.