So you're developing quite a broad vision of the total person before you begin imagery work?
Yes, and there is still more I want to know about the total person. I ask them how their illness and their life is compared to a week ago, a month ago...a year ago. Rather than getting into blaming I ask them to watch the patterns. We need to find out how serious the problem is and what they really want the outcome to be...and what it's going to take for them to get well. The resources are there and they usually don't know it.
I help them identify secondary gain. Are they holding onto the illness for any reason?
I also want to know how they feel about their external treatments. Sometimes cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are not at all sure that it's the right treatment for them and they really want to be getting irradiation. They're getting a lot of side effects. Do they believe their illness is totally incurable or is it just a problem that is going to change? These initial questions in an evaluation must be looked at before I go into imagery work.
Once you've done this initial evaluation, how do you use imagery to
facilitate healing?
I have them go right to that symptom and ask what it's about. Most of the time it's around some kind of fear. The body is always talking to them and it's important to get them to learn how to listen.
I say to them "Where do you feel it in your body?" If a person notices a sensation in their stomach, my next suggestion might be, "Focus on your stomach and let it speak to you...hear what it has to say." I let them know that this imagery process may or may not be visual, but it can be all of the senses.
Here's another simple and powerful imagery: Imagine that all your worries are the size of a dime. Toss it into the waste basket. Can you do that? What would it feel like if it would fill this little cup?
Now imagine your worry or fear with your eyes closed. How big is it, how deep, what width, texture, size and color? I have them hold their hands out and form a cup and put that worry in there. It's very powerful to allow a pain or worry to shift outside the body and be held in the hands. And when they can imagine they no longer have that problem, I ask them what they'll do when it's gone.
In order to help people tap their inner healing resources one thing I do is ask them to remember a day when they felt absolutely terrific-a time when they felt extremely centered and powerful. I encourage them to relive and experience that special, wonderful day.
Another important image in healing arises when I ask them to look for images of being completely well, completely healed and functioning in a connected way.
Is it important for you or your patient to know the specific actual details of their disease?
It's important for me as a clinician to research diseases I don't know much about. I also give my client general articles on the subject so they can teach themselves and take greater responsibility in their healing. After the person reads the articles, we then discuss the new meaning and perception about their illness. As I listen to them telling their story, I write down special words they are using as they speak. One man I recently saw repeatedly used the phrase "flow state" but in his life he was not flowing at all.
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