Welcome to Imagery International!
Susan Ezra
I invite you to browse our website to learn about our multidisciplinary professional imagery association and the healing powers of the imagination. Choose a topic for a quick snapshot into what our non-profit unincorporated Professional Guided Imagery Association is doing:
Imagery Defined
Practitioners Using Imagery
Training Programs
Members
Annual Conference
Quarterly ImagiNews Journal
Monthly e-Newsletter
Podcasts
Blog
Become a Member
Imagery Defined
When we use the word “imagery” we honor the definition put forth by one of our dearly missed mentors, Dr. Jeanne Achterberg, who recently passed away. She stated it well by saying that when we refer to “imagery,” we mean
“the thought process that invokes the senses: vision, audition, smell, taste, the sense of movement, position, and touch. It is the communication mechanism between perception, emotion, and bodily change. A major cause of both health and sickness, the image is the world’s greatest healing resource. Imagery, or the stuff of the imagination, affects the body intimately on both seemingly mundane and profound levels” (Imagery and Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine, p. 3 – Jeanne Achterberg, 1985)
Practitioners Using Imagery
Currently, with more advanced technology, particularly in the realm of neuroscience, we know that imagery touches virtually all modalities in healthcare, personal growth, and creativity. Imagery reaches into the deepest layers of consciousness. When we embark on a mission to enter into the inquiry and engage these layers, we are met with a plethora of resources to ground us in our bodies and to guide us into what is authentically present each moment. In addition, we foster an “awakeness” to actually notice what may be newly emerging in our personal and collective conscious evolution. In this way, working seriously with imagery can allow us to own back our projections, find meaning in suffering, and to live by core heart-centered values. Mindfulness meditative practices combined with imagery work, something many in the organization have done for years, is now embraced by many mainstream venues. If you are interested in exploring symptoms with imagery ask if any of those you may be referred to has training in guided imagery.
Back to top
Training Programs
Our page listing imagery training programs endeavors to identify training programs that offer certification for substantial lecture and practice leading to a specialization in Guided Imagery. We do not endorse any and ask graduates to speak about their experience in the program. If you are curious and want to find out more but are not interested in committing to a full training program these schools may offer introductory opportunities. Many of our members also offer workshops which are not listed on this page, but may be found referenced in the blog.
Members
We share a tremendous diversity in our international membership with many practitioners who are both trainers and who have trained in Imagery Schools. Please look in our directory for a practitioner in your area and/or join our list of providers if you are already a practitioner engaged in this work.
Back to top
Annual Conference
Our 2012 annual conference was a rousing success. Gerald Epstein, MD was awarded our Imagery Person of the Year for 2011. Proceeds from this year’s silent auction allows us to offer three scholarships to the 2013 conference. We thank Esther Johnson, RN, BSN, PHN, Juliet Rhode-Brown, PhD, Susan Gold, MA, CH, Randy Kasper, LCSW, BCD, Said Osio, and Glenda Cedarleaf for taking photos and videos of conference highlights
We have again reserved the beautiful Mercy Center in Burlingame, California (near San Francisco) for our 2013 conference venue. The theme for our 2013 conference, which will take place October 4th through the 6th, is The Magic of Imagery. You are welcome to receive email alerts on our conference updates by subscribing to Conference updates. Please add conference to the subject line. Mark your calendars early so that you can attend.
Back to top
Quarterly ImagiNews Journal
You will be able to read details about the conference and much more in our quarterly e-journal which you will find here—ImagiNews—in beautiful sparking color with some wonderful art images. Many of our members opt to pay a little extra in order to receive a printed copy in the mail. The theme for our March issue is Suffering . I am confident that you will be moved and inspired by the articles featuring the theme. The theme for the next issue is Magic. If anyone is interested in becoming co-editor with Bev Hollander, please contact us. We welcome your contributions of articles, poems, and case presentations as well. You will see guidelines for such in the current issue of ImagiNews. Last year Bev Hollander was awarded Imagery Person of the Year, not only for her selfless service for ImagiNews, but for many other blessings she has given our organization.
Back to top
Monthly e-Newsletter
In addition to the ImagiNews quarterly journal, our newest board member, Susan Gold, has created a wonderful email newsletter. You can join by clicking HERE . The archives are found HERE. With this latest venture, we can now keep you up to date with our monthly happenings and announcements. Kudos to Susan for her effort and contribution.
Back to top
Podcasts
We continue to offer Podcasts of interviews with visionaries from the Imagery healing community. Those interviews are available for podcast listening at any time. We do not know what we would do without our I.T. guru and solid support, Sandy Warnken.
Back to top
Blog
Our blog is a wonderful place to read about various Imagery applications, research, CDs. Videos, topics of interest to our related fields, etc. Imagery International programs and activities are announced there.
Back to top
Become a Member
If you are interested in participating or supporting the work our association is doing please join us. It is you, our members, who keep us thriving, as you will likely acknowledge when you check out the wonderful pie chart and financial report that our masterful Treasurer, Janet Barr, prepared for you in the June issue of ImagiNews. Find out more about options such as the cost of membership and how to purchase a paper version of our newsletter HERE. You can apply online with credit card by clicking HERE. If you wish to be listed in our online directory please fill out the online form which allows you to add your information to your directory listing. The online membership form will allow you to pay by credit card or check.
Back to top
In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote from C.G. Jung that speaks to the depth we refer to when we engage in imagery practices
“Imagination is the active evocation of (inner) images secondum naturam, an authentic feat of thought or ideation, which does not spin aimless and groundless fantasies ‘into the blue’—does not, that is to say, just play with its objects, but tries to grasp the inner facts and portray them in images true to their nature. This activity is an opus, a work.” (Psychology and Alchemy, Collected Works, Vol. 12, p. 219)
Best Regards,
Susan
Sue Ezra, RN, HNC
President
Back to top