Guided Imagery Audio Therapy
GUIDED IMAGERY/GUIDED MEDITATION
Guided Imagery involves using the imagination to see, hear, feel, smell and/or taste a preferred scene. Guided Relaxation has been shown to help relieve anxiety and restless sleep. Meditation cultivates mindfulness of our innate mental activity to become more aware of our thoughts and habitual tendencies. All three use the power of the mind to evoke a positive response in the body.
Guided Imagery / Meditation Music is a tool used to help guide individuals to a relaxed state. There are many ways this tool can be used. Often scripted, a practitioner will guide a client or group of clients through one if not several techniques that encourage relaxation. This may be the only goal of a guided meditation, or a Practitioner may use it for a variety of other options such as encouraging a better learning state, visual and color therapies, or one of many other options.
Guided Audio Imagery / Guided Meditation is a tool frequently used to help achieve relaxation and comfort. Guided healing is used both in individual situations as well as with groups.
HYPNOTHERAPY
Although most people have a concept of what hypnosis/hypnotherapy is. There are many misconceptions about it. The reality is much less ‘dramatic’ than what the media portrays. In hypnosis a partnership is entered into between a client and Hypnotherapist, in which the client agrees to allow themselves to relax into a state of deeper conscious. The Hypnotherapist is only the GUIDE on the journey, the client is the true hypnotist. If a client refuses to be hypnotized or defies the attempts, they are not fulfilling their part of the agreement and thus will not enter into a true hypnotic state.
Hypnosis is an amazing tool that can be used in many areas as alternative care. Because habit breaking/developing changes are much easier to instill on a deeper conscious level, Hypnosis offers a wonderful tool for these areas. Hypnosis can also be a great asset for individuals looking to ‘search’ their mind for what may seem like lost memories, or even past lives. It is often a wonderful benefit for individuals who have had a difficult time facing an area in their past or getting past a trauma, as the mind has a wonderful way of protecting us. In this way hypnosis can be used, by a competent Hypnotherapist, to get to the source of an issue while keeping a level of protection for the client.
Picture yourself listening to CD during a relaxation break at home or at work. Can you imagine how it would feel ...
- To release tension from your body?
- To feel less anxious about any aspect of your life?
- To handle everyday stress about your health, money, and relationships?
To help retain a sense of control, patients can learn a range of positive skills including imagery, relaxation, self-talk, and positive outcome expectations.
Guided imagery audio is a technique that draws on the power of thought to influence psychological and physiological states. The patient listens to an audio tape to create mental images that bring about a state of focused concentration. This state, in turn, allows relaxation and produces a sense of physical and emotional well-being. Patients can use this technique to control their reactions to anxiety, depression, and stressful situations.
Guided audio imagery may also help patients strengthen their immune system and enhance their own healing.
How do the guided imagery tapes improve the surgical experience? The answer is not clear at this point. Using the tapes may increase patients' sense of control and active participation, which in turn may reduce anxiety and change physiology. Music has been shown to influence mood and, perhaps, immune function. The tapes also provide a temporary escape, blocking out annoying noises, and distracting the patients from pain and anxious thoughts.
Those who listened to guided imagery tapes fared much better--both before and after surgery. Before surgery, anxiety increased in the control group but decreased in the guided imagery group. After surgery, pain and anxiety levels were significantly lower for the imagery patients. They needed only about half the amount of narcotic pain medications as the control group and their bowel function also returned much more quickly.
The number of patients experiencing postoperative complications such as nausea, vomiting, or disrupted bowel function did not differ significantly in the two groups. Nor were there enough participants to detect a statistically significant difference in length of hospital stay.
But virtually all of the guided imagery patients reported that they appreciated using the tapes and attributed benefits including improved quality of sleep, speeded recovery, and reduced anxiety and pain after surgery. Most believed that all patients having major abdominal surgery should have the opportunity to use the guided imagery tapes.