How to Coach Yourself and Others Better Coaching Through Visualisation | Page 164

11. Healing Power and Visualization
From Kathryn C. Shafer, Ph.D.
Mental imagery, sometimes called visualization, guided imagery,
and often used interchangeably with the practice of meditation and
hypnosis, is the language used by the mind to communicate and
make sense about the inner and outer worlds (Shafer & Greenfield,
2000).
Imagery, refers to the awareness of sensory (physical), and
perceptual (cognitive), experiences which have been used in a
variety of health and healing practices in the Western world for over
three decades (Heinschel, 2002). Meditation, mindfulness, hypnosis,
and yoga are also techniques commonly used in Behavioral Health
Programs today to assist in high-level awareness health education
sessions (Kabot-Zinn,1990).
While there is something unique and peculiar about thinking in
mental images, or understanding the meaning of "pictures in the
head" as it applies to health and well being, this uniqueness is to
receiving attention in the theoretical and research literature
(Pslyshyn, 2002).
Given the diverse role of the imagination appears to have in healing,
the difficulty in studying the invisible world scientifically, religious
groups who oppose such practices, and the differences in
preconceptions held by practitioners, it is no surprise that there are
many distinct views on the practice and value of mental imagery
(Pinker & Kosslyn, 1983, Snaith, 1998).
11.1 Role of Imagination in Healing
In the last decade, interest in the practice of mental imagery, and the
role of the imagination in health and well being, has dramatically
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