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Welcome Janet Barr – Treasurer

Monday, October 17th, 2011

We are delighted to welcome our new Treasurer extraordinaire – Janet Barr, CLFC, CLU, CDFA, MS. Janet is a financial adviser located in Santa Barbara, California. Her skills are much needed as it is clear it is time to evaluate which new programs can be funded. We have some projects aimed at public and professional education and interest in making our podcasts available to a wider audience through websites like iTunes and Podcast Alley.

Janet was introduced to us for the first time at the annual meeting during the 2011 Imagery

Janet Barr reports

conference. She is pictured here reporting on our healthy balance. She has been busy overhauling our way of doing business and offered software to facilitate collaboration between officers on projects. Wow is she energetic and full of ideas to move us forward in a cost effective fashion.

Janet’s business name is Collaborative Financial Solutions, LLC. Her address is 206 E. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, California. For more information visit her website here.

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Specialties include:

Wealth management, socially responsible and green alternative energy investing, estate planning, divorce settlement planning and financial life planning.

It’s a good time to call 805-965-0101 when you are planning ahead or dealing with:

• Job Change – 401(k) Advice, Investment Selection, Benefits Analysis, Rollover

• Selling a home, business, and other assets in the most tax efficient manner

• Minimizing taxes, Tax Deferral and Tax Free investments

• Divorce or Contemplating divorce Getting Divorced Checklist

• Wanting a new relationship with your finances Starting Out Checklist

• Life happens/Protecting against serious loss: Disability, Life, and Long-Term Care, etc.

• Inheritance/Sudden Wealth/Lottery

• Retirement or nearing retirement

• Nearing Retirement Checklist

• Estate Planning Checklist

Posted in Finance, Member Articles, News | No Comments »

Cancer Imagery Up-Regulates Immune Function

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Cancer Imagery Up-Regulates Immune Function After All by Belleruth Naparstek, Monday, June 27, 2011

Belleruth Naparstek

Hello again.

I’ve been looking at the research and pondering how far we’ve come from those early days when we were first learning about guided imagery as a possible, bona fide addition to the cancer treatment toolkit.   Back in the 80’s when guided imagery was first getting promoted by Bernie Siegel, Stephanie & Carl Simonton, Jeanne Achterberg and Frank Lawlis, there was a lot of excitement about its potential. Early pilot studies showed a lot of promise (early studies often do – perhaps because of the excitement the investigators feel about their intervention), and there was a lot of talk about how ‘visualization’ could wipe out cancer cells. People were encouraged to imagine Pac-Men, a popular video game at the time, eating up cancer cells, before, during and after chemotherapy.

In those days, the imagery was strictly visual – the other senses were not called into play – and that made it hard for the half of the population that’s not especially well wired for visual memory or fantasy. We’ve since learned that all the senses need to be brought to bear, and that perhaps the most potent and impactful sense is the kinesthetic one – imagining the feel of things inside the body. We also figured out that for most people, when the imagery has a strong emotional flavor to it, it gets potentiated to a greater extent and has more impact.   The research at that time showed that the proponents of visualization were over-promising. These early visualizations helped cancer patients with motivation, coping, anxiety and the side effects of chemotherapy and other medical procedures but didn’t make a dent on the progress of the cancer itself. Investigators reluctantly backed off from their ambitious early claims and stuck with side-effects and coping benefits.

(more…)

Posted in Cancer, Medical, Member Articles | No Comments »

Oct. 21-23 Woman’s Retreat in Mexico

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

A Woman’s Retreat Tepozatlan, Mexico, October 21-23

Glenda Cedarleaf

Come immerse yourself in a women’s circle and into your creative imagination through Guided Imagery, Expressive Arts, Movement, Healing Ritual and FUN !!!

You will open to inner guidance and release emotional blocks for greater clarity and commitment

This retreat will be facilitated by  Glenda Cedarleaf MSW LICSW  and includes a very special  experiential with  Mary Lynn Patton Ed.D Clinical Psychologist

Glenda Cedarleaf is a Guided Imagery practitioner and Clinical Hypnotherapist - who follows her calling to be a muse and midwife for deepening the healing process through creative exploration.

She has facilitated women’s retreats since 1995. She has a psychotherapy and guided imagery practice in Minnetonka Minnesota.

Tepoztlan is in the mountains and is known for being the birthplace of the mighty Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. It is home to artists and lovers of Native Mexican culture. This town is filled with beautiful loving and authentic people who have maintained the best of their native culture. You will love the weekend market filled with the colorful and flavorful foods and crafts of the people of this lovely village.

Glenda writes and records guided imagery journeys. Her audios “Your Healing Journey” and “Healing Surgery” are now being provided to patients in the Cardiac Catheter Lab, Emergency Room, Joint Center and Surgical Department.

For more information on the retreat and how to sign up click here.

To learn more about Glenda’s work visit her website http://www.guidedimagerycd.com/

Posted in Events, Personal Growth, Retreat, Self-Care, Spiritual | No Comments »

Is Guided Imagery Dangerous for Someone Who Dissociates?

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

What are the side effects of listening to a Guided Imagery recording?

The following is an important discussion about one patient who listened to “Panic Attack”. Belleruth Naparstek is probably the leading creator, producer and seller of Guided Imagery recordings. Her “Prepare for Surgery” has been clinically tested and found effective in reducing the patient’s loss of blood and speeding the course of healing. So what do we learn about this questioners experience with a client?

Is Guided Imagery Dangerous for Someone Who Dissociates?

Question:

Are the guided visualizations safe for persons with a history of traumatic dissociation and a traumatic brain injury? I introduced a client to the Panic Attack tape and she felt “funny” and dissociated at the end of the session. We did some grounding exercises to return her into her body, and she was fine, but she is questioning the safety of follow-up work with these tapes. Thanks for any feedback you can offer!

Answer:

Great question – a lot of therapists who don’t work regularly with hypnosis or imagery ask it.  Since guided imagery is a form of conscious, purposeful dissociation, it can actually be used to help train a client like this to gain control over her dissociative process. By practicing with it, she can get a better idea of what it’s like to be ‘home’ inside her body, and what it’s like to go AWOL and be someplace else in her mind. By opting to use imagery on a regular basis, starting out with you keeping her company, she can become skillful at realizing when she’s floated out, and can then pull herself back into her body quickly – by doing those grounding exercises you gave her, for instance.

As you know, it’s much safer for her to be “home” in her body – it’s the ungrounded, floaty, dissociated people who get pegged as prey by predators looking for their next mugging or sexual assault victim. In that disembodied state, they broadcast with their body language and that spacey look in their eyes, just how easy it would be to figuratively or literally knock them over. Similarly, they have more auto accidents and accidental injuries while ironing, using an oven or slicing things with a knife.   But this means she should continue to practice this with you in the office, where she can safely learn to get a handle on this – it won’t be long before she’ll be able to do it on her own and she’ll be far safer and happier for it.

She should be able to tell you when she feels in control.   As I mention in Invisible Heroes, 2 psychologists from Georgia State, Drs. Joen Fagan and Erma Shephard, way back in the 1980’s, amply demonstrated the power of dissociative techniques, such as hypnosis and guided imagery, for helping people who dissociate, even people with the most extreme diagnoses, such as what they used to call at that time Multiple Personality Disorder – now Dissociative Identity Disorder.  I hope this helps.

All best,

Belleruth

To see the article on Belleruth’s website click here.

Posted in Counseling, Member Articles, Personal Growth | 4 Comments »

Blogging for Mental Health – Juliet Rohde-Brown

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Dear Community,

We are blogging for mental health today at Imagery International. Our integrative and multidisciplinary framework incorporates an appreciation of how powerful our imagination is in healing.

As educators and practitioners we advocate for less stigma around seeking assistance for mental health issues and more accessibility to services that can facilitate a reduction of stress and suffering. When people are having a difficult time dealing with the stresses of life, we feel strongly about being able to foster both acceptance and change by acknowledging the unique imagery that arises in presenting problems.

When appropriate, we can sometimes encourage an active engagement with these images and serve to facilitate in our clients a mindful attentiveness to what is newly emerging. Sometimes this can involve stepping into an imagined quality and role playing with speech and behavior. Other times, one can create a safe and peaceful place from which to then explore more challenging emotional issues. The safe space can be purely imaginary or it can blend an actual place with embellishments of the imagination. One can have an imaginary guide, such as a spiritual mentor, who assists along the way.

Dream material and literature can be fodder for interacting with images and symbols that emerge as significant in some way in the present moment. Using the imagination through engaging in art, music, dance, and writing can assist in moving through difficult life concerns. Taking an actual object in one’s hand and exploring the texture, shape, scent, and so forth can also be beneficial, particularly when the object is gathered from the natural environment. Indeed, images in nature are profoundly moving and awakening when we surrender to noticing their expression. Staying present to what one is experiencing in one’s body in the present moment and perhaps bringing voice to an image around a medical issue can be helpful.

Contemplative practices that involve imagery, such as tonglen and loving-kindness meditation can foster the occasion of forgiveness of self and others.

Working with images can help foster emotional regulation and integration of the many parts of the self, such that we become more mindful in both our intra- and interpersonal interactions. There is both anecdotal and empirical evidence to back this up, from the cave images of our deep past to current scientific studies around perception and neuroplasticity. Even if we don’t explicitly engage in “imagery work,” we are calling images into our mental health practice at every moment, as each person shares their diversity and their unique narratives. Through a blending of mindfulness practices and respecting what is present through images, we both include and move beyond past maladaptive patterns and narratives and into a new autobiographical memory.

Metta,

Juliet Rohde-Brown, PhD
President
Imagery International

Posted in Counseling, Member Articles, Self-Care | No Comments »

Blogging for Mental Health

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

This post is offered as part of the American Psychological Association‘s Mental Health Month Blog Party today. Imagery International professionals use Guided Imagery to help clients and patients make desired changes in mental health and medical conditions. We as body/mind workers understand that the two are not independent. The following article by one of our members, Charlotte Reznick, PhD illustrates how working with a child’s imagination improves mental health and physical symptoms.

Helping Children with Guided Imagery

By Charlotte Reznick, Ph.D.

“Your imagination can help you heal.” This simple and elegant statement was the response nine-year-old Teresa gave me when asked what she had learned from our work together as we were wrapping up our counseling relationship.

Teresa is a beautiful, doe-eyed girl who first came to me a year ago because she was a goody-goody who would always be sweet and kind and never express any negative feelings. Imagine what a wonderful daughter she was. Who would want to change that? Her parents. They were concerned because her younger brother was very expressive—actually a terror around the house—and they didn’t want Teresa to get lost, but to be her own person. They wondered if she harbored truer feelings under the surface that were afraid to come out. And she did.

Teresa lived in a home filled with chaos. Although caring, her parents had serious, volatile marital issues. There was a new baby at home adding to the attention already taken away from Teresa by her four-year-old brother. Nannies were coming and going, partly because mom was in the midst of starting several new businesses. Teresa never knew who was going to show up at school, take her home, or drag her to some almost forgotten after-school activity.

I share some highlights of Teresa’s story with you not because she’s unusual, but because she’s typical. Her problems are the problems of thousands of kids: jealousy of younger sibs, trouble with friends, parents fighting, struggling with academics, grappling with fears of unworthiness, dealing with headaches and stomachaches—to name a few.

In my 25 years as a psychologist working with children from a variety of backgrounds, the most lasting and creative healings have taken place through using the power of a child’s imagination. Many of you may be familiar with some aspects of my Imagery For Kids™ program from AGI’s advanced training modules or previous conferences. My focus is on teaching children to access their inner wisdom; imagery tools offer an easy, fun way to get there.

Teresa’s healing journey began with her trying to please everyone, including me, to expressing herself so wildly and strongly that she got into a lot of trouble, to finally balancing how to communicate her needs, wants, and feelings while also considering other people. Imagery was the catalyst, fuel, and vehicle during this process.

During our final sessions, I was delighted that Teresa easily recounted how she incorporated imagery into her life and made the tools her own. Here’s her advice (with some commentary from me) on how to use eight of the imagery tools.

(more…)

Posted in Children | No Comments »

Using a Guided Imagery CD to Unwind

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Glenda Cedarleaf’s May Newsletter

Her featured article discusses how to use a Guided Imagery CD. Later in the newsletter she tells you how she helps clients find a healing place. There is always inspiring and useful information is her newsletters.

5 Ways to use Guided Imagery for unwinding each day

1. To “recalibrate” your nervous system during the day, you can listen to a guided imagery audio-and experience the benefits of a 15 minute rejuvenating retreat into your unconscious .

2. To fall asleep replacing worry imagery with healing visualization – you can listen right before you go to bed at night– It helps to have your CD player or Ipod set up and ready ahead of time.

3. When you are getting ready for a medical procedure, listen before, during (if allowed) and after to promote healing.

4. When you can’t sleep and you awaken in the night–listen again– it will help you refocus your mind on positive, healing, relaxing messages so you can return to dreamland.

5. Upon awakening , you can listen to a guided meditation as a prelude to your daily healing practice–of journaling, walking, yoga, Tai Chi ,meditating, reading, drawing, praying etc.

Glenda also talks about how she helps clients find a healing place.

Glenda also has a CD for folks with Lyme disease. To see the rest of her newsletter click here.

Posted in Member Articles, News | No Comments »

A Mother’s Day Story

Sunday, May 8th, 2011

We celebrate Mother’s Day this day in recognition of the love and caring mothers provide their families. This particular article addresses the difficulty of being a woman who is also a mother in our society. Mother’s may fall short meeting the criteria of being a good mother when the Inner Critic has much to say on the matter. This article comes from the American Hypnotist Examiners April Newsletter.

Embracing Our Imperfections
by Alena Guest
“When my daughter was young her favorite doll was a Raggedy Ann and she fell asleep each night rubbing her nose against the doll’s cloth face. Over time the face became threadbare and the cotton stuffing bulged from the splits in the fabric. The painted features faded. One day I suggested that it might be time to replace the Raggedy Ann with a newer version. My daughter was horrified. ‘If I had an accident and my face got ruined would you get a new girl? I love her how she is.’ My child’s wisdom humbled me. We did ‘fix’ the precious doll with masking tape and an indelible magic marker. So Raggedy Ann stayed beautifully imperfect.” This story, by Annie Dillard, poignantly illustrates how we assess beauty primarily from the surface.
As we approach middle-age we often view ourselves through a glass darkly, concentrating on our imperfections. Each of us is her own worst critic. In my years as a clinical hypnotherapist I have worked with hundreds of women, each shackled by her inner critic, who keeps her imprisoned inside a limited version of herself. Part of the reason is that we are bombarded with advertising images that reinforce unrealistic, unhealthy perceptions of beauty and perfection.

The women who are portrayed in these ads are photo-shopped so much that even iconic 1990′s supermodel Cindy Crawford, says, “I wish I was Cindy Crawford.”

To read the rest of Embracing Our Imperfections go here

Posted in Hypnosis, News | No Comments »

Linda Blachman – Choose Life!

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

CHOOSE LIFE! – Making the Most of Life Transitions

Linda Blachman

All the world is just a narrow bridge. The main thing is not to fear. – R. Nachman

May 2011

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am pleased to announce the launch of my life transitions coaching and guided imagery practice, a complement to my ongoing work with personal histories and legacies.

Whether self-initiated or forced upon us, transitional times can feel like standing on a bridge in a fog of confusion. Wanting to avoid discomfort, we may miss the opportunity to delve deeply enough to make wise life-affirming choices and thoughtful plans for crafting the next chapter.

After an extended transition of my own, I am called to help others learn to use times of challenge and change for growth, healing and renewal. My mission is to help my clients navigate inevitable losses and uncertainties and take the necessary steps to author a new narrative. Together we review the past and release what is no longer needed; identify sources of authenticity, vitality and joy; visualize and plan the future; and move towards meaningful goals, all the while living with awareness in the present moment.

We discover our truth by telling our stories. (more…)

Posted in Cancer, Counseling, Radio, Self-Care, Spiritual | No Comments »

About Guided Imagery

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Guided Imagery defined

Dr. Jeanne Achterberg, a leader in imagery exploration and application, refers to imagery as “the thought process that invokes and uses the senses: vision, audition, smell, taste, the senses of movement, position and touch. It is the communication between perception, emotion, and bodily change.” Guided Imagery can evoke change through the senses both physical and imagined by skillful guidance.

Guided Imagery Experienced

A definition does not capture the experience of working with a trained Guided Imagery practitioner. And most people who have not had experience with this approach want to know about research on efficacy of Guided Imagery for changing symptoms, behavior before deciding to try it out. Imagery International’s professionals have written about their work over the years and through articles in Imagery International’s newsletter – ImagiNews - discuss how they have incorporated their Guided Imagery training into their practices.

Our membership is comprised of diverse licensed and certified professionals who show how this work is useful to virtually all types of work.

To see these articles that range from relevant research citations to treatment of symptoms and behavioral problems visit our About Guided Imagery page.

All types of professionals are not represented here. We will be adding information as articles are submitted.

Posted in CAM, Children, Coaching, Counseling, Dreams, End of Life, Energy, Hypnosis, Medical, Member Articles, Nursing, Personal Growth, Self-Care, Spiritual, Uncategorized | No Comments »