Can going to your “happy place” help your recovery? While it’s a lot more complex than that, guided imagery is a type of therapy that involves visualization and guided images to create positive changes in thoughts and behaviors.
More rehabs are using guided imagery as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. The mind-body intervention works by activating the connections in your brain, nervous system and visual cortex to impact your emotional and physical state. Guided imagery is often used with meditation and mindfulness.
Under the guidance and direction of a trained addiction specialist, an individual can learn to listen to someone else’s voice and consciously generate images in his mind to reduce stress and promote calmness. You can also use audio recordings, create your own recordings or use your inner voice and imagination.
The Academy for Guided Imagery (AGI) classifies guided imagery into three categories:
- Stress reduction and relaxation.
- Active visualization or directed imagery (for improving performance, changing behavior, or influencing an outcome).
- Receptive imagery (in which words and images are brought to consciousness to explore and give information about symptoms, treatments, moods or illnesses).
The Benefits of Guided Imagery
Guided imagery can help you relieve physical tension and psychological stress in minutes and be a healthy distraction from daily stressors. In this way, it can also help you develop a positive mindset and coping mechanisms for maintaining resilience during difficult times. Other study-proven benefits of guided imagery include:
- Decreased need for pain medication
- Reduced fear and anxiety
- Better stress management skills
- Headache & migraine relief
- Improved sleep and reduced insomnia
Holistic Addiction Treatment by the Sea
Guided imagery is part of our alternative treatment schedule for both men and women at Complete Harmony. We also offer other complementary therapies, including yoga, meditation, mindfulness and acupuncture, in order to address every aspect of health: mind, body, spirit and social. To learn more, call today: 866-930-4673.
