Visualization and working with images

Guided imagination, visualization, guided affective images, cathartic therapy… All these are modern names for a method of working with images of the imagination, which a few centuries ago were the field of interest only for alternative medicine and philosophy.

A person gets the skill of using images already in childhood. It is no coincidence that the thinking used by children up to about 6-7 years old is called “visual-figurative”.

First, the child learns simple actions with objects, his body, learns what consequences his actions have. Later, it becomes possible for him to do all this in his imagination: to come up with new combinations of objects and operations with them, to guess what the invented actions can lead to. Images of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, accumulated by memory, help the child in this.

We are talking not only about visual images represented by pictures in thoughts, but also about auditory, tactile, motor and many others that recreate in memory all aspects of the surrounding world. Until the child has mastered the sphere of abstract logical mental constructions, he literally thinks with his whole body: reactions to different types of sensations; uses memory of motor sensations, outbursts of emotions from collisions with objects and events.

Children’s thinking is not mediated by intricate logical constructions, complex concepts about life phenomena. Therefore, the image of a particular object or phenomenon directly causes a number of sensory and physiological changes in the child’s body, reminding the child of the experience of interacting with this object or phenomenon.

Changes in the state of the body are associated with each image through complex neural connections in the child’s brain. Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have shown that when processing mental images, the brain uses the same neural connections as when directly encountering the physical world. The probability of interaction with an object that appears in the field of human attention, whether real or imagined, puts the body in a state of readiness for a “meeting” based on the memory of past interactions.

Growing up, a person retains the connection of the physical response with the images of imaginary reality. However, such a connection becomes partially mediated by complex verbal constructions or concepts. For example, the reaction “I’m scared” in a life-threatening situation is replaced by “I can’t move, because my honor and dignity depend on it.” A person immerses himself in the reality created by words and their meanings, rules and meanings, and uses the second signaling system of reality for thinking, as noted by the psychophysiologist I. P. Pavlov at the beginning of the 20th century.

As a result, the immediate imprints of reality — images of sensations – gradually become less noticeable, are displaced, ignored, and rejected in favor of conscious cultural and social attitudes. Along with them, the real causes of actions, illnesses, and psychological problems become the property of the subconscious.

The purpose of all approaches to working with images is the dialogue of the personality with the content of his own subconscious. The use of imaginative thinking makes it possible to find the traumatic factors underlying a person’s problems and directly affect the body without triggering conscious control.

The method focuses on solving everyday, communication and existential psychological problems, dealing with depression and stress, helping to set and implement professional and self-development goals, reducing pain, overall rejuvenation of the body, preventing diseases and promoting speedy recovery.

The American psychologist V. Schutz described the case of his client suffering from myopia, who tried to imagine the image of his eyes. A picture of a glass wall covered with small cracks appeared in the client’s imagination, behind which was a rose garden where a wolf was walking. The client had a desire to get into this garden, but at the same time he was very afraid of the wolf. Gradually, the wall in the client’s imagination became transparent, but it was still impossible to get through it. Answering the question about when this wall appeared, the client recalled an episode from childhood. At the age of 12, he became the victim of humiliating ridicule for “making eyes” at a girl. This memory led to a feeling of great relief in the eyes and parts of the facial muscles. The client was once again able to make eye movements that had been inaccessible to him for thirty years. As it turned out, this partial fixation of eye movements was the main factor in his myopia.

Thus, when analyzing freely occurring images and their accompanying feelings, a person can come to a logical realization of traumatic moments, or to insight.

Working with images in the context of the approach described above boils down to four simple steps.

At the first stage, the purpose of the work is determined: a psychological or physical problem. Take, for example, the difficulties of eating healthy food and following a diet.

At the second stage, the image of the problem is addressed. Usually a simple question is enough, for example: “What does the problem look like?” or “What image would be suitable to illustrate feelings in this situation?” Let’s say the problem is that cooking healthy food and following a diet regime is associated with a “cosmic black hole” that sucks up all your free time and energy.

The third stage is devoted to the search for a connection between the image that has arisen and the life of the person who created it. In our case, it is a pity for a person to waste the fast-moving time of his life on cooking.

The fourth stage is aimed at transforming the negative vision of the situation so that the new image in the imagination, on the contrary, begins to contribute to solving the problem. In this example, a person will be asked to imagine how a time-sucking “black hole” is transformed into an unusual mechanism that “multiplies” the time entering it by increasing the body’s efficiency, which will allow it to fulfill more plans per day. The fuel that ensures the operation of the mechanism is healthy food, consumed according to the correct schedule.

Working with images of psychological and physical problems is essentially working with personality attitudes repressed into the subconscious. In fact, “imaginative” attitudes towards all phenomena and events of life — good and bad — are constantly in the subconscious of every person. Working with the help of imagination only highlights them for consciousness, and a person begins to pay attention to what is happening inside him.

Dr. David Bresler, president of the Bresler Center for Mind and Body Medicine in Los Angeles, describes the technique he uses to help patients reduce pain in various diseases. One of his clients complained of severe pain in his spine. At the doctor’s request, the patient tried to imagine how unpleasant sensations were associated with him. The pain turned out to be like a huge ferocious dog clinging to the man’s spine. Bresler suggested that the patient talk to the dog and make friends with it. After doing this, the man noted that the pain had become much weaker. Soon the pain subsided completely, and the patient began to recover.

Quite often, the image of the disease appears in the form of something formidable, possessing a power that cannot be controlled. In such cases, the work of the imagination is directed at transforming the image until it seems fragile and weak in comparison with it. And if it seems difficult to make such a transformation, the work is carried out with the image of the patient’s own body. With the help of imagination, a person strengthens the idea of his capabilities.

Jeanne Achterberg, a professor of psychology at the Saybrook Institute, was engaged in research on which images of exposure to the disease used by patients are the most effective. She found that the best clinical results are provided by images of archetypal heroes fighting for their country (body) against invaders (diseases) in the name of God or their people. Images of predatory animals: bears, rabid dogs, sharks, helping to drive away diseases, also contributed to the recovery of patients, but more slowly. Weak and indistinct images also had a weak effect. Patients with the most disappointing prognoses could easily visualize their illnesses, but they could not visualize their immune system fighting at all.

Dr. Patricia Norris from the Carl Menning Foundation described the story of her nine-year-old patient, who coped with a malignant tumor in the brain by visualizing images from “Star Wars”. The boy underwent radiation treatment, which did not have a positive effect. Surgical intervention proved impossible due to the location of the tumor. The life expectancy forecast did not exceed six months. Of all the possible methods of fighting for the patient’s life, the doctor had only visualization.

Every night before going to bed, the boy spent a 20-minute session working with images of his illness and immune system. He represented the immune system as powerful and strong in the form of a squad of space fighters, of which he was the captain. His head “became” the solar system, where the invading scoundrel wanted to settle, who was pushed back by the fighters every time. The doctor describes that the patient’s condition began to deteriorate at first, but after that he began to feel better. A brain scan done five months later showed that the tumor had disappeared.

The science of psychoneuroimmunology is engaged in the study of the mechanism of the effect of guided visualization on the physiological processes of the body. To date, an impressive number of studies have been conducted demonstrating the effectiveness of working with images to promote the treatment of a number of conditions, including headaches and chronic pain associated with arthritis and physical injury, coronary heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

The effect of increasing the body’s overall resistance to infections and diseases, as well as improving the overall condition of the body and quality of life as a result of using the imaging method, has been documented.

At the moment, the main mechanism of the influence of imaginative thinking on the course of physiological processes in the body is recognized as the ability of the central nervous system to positively and negatively affect the immune function of the body.

In this regard, the effect of stress on the suppression of the immune system has been studied in the most detail. It is shown that the feeling of helplessness that often accompanies a stressful state leads to the formation of a surrender reaction: when the current situation seems insurmountable, a person stops trying to cope with it and loses a sense of real hope for a favorable outcome.

The surrender reaction increases the production of cortisol, which suppresses immunity, and also suppresses the formation of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine in the brain, which is involved in the regulation of blood pressure and peripheral vascular resistance.

Scientists have found a fairly low correlation between serious stressful life events (death of relatives, change of country of residence, divorce, and others) and the state of health of people who survived them. Only a small percentage of the sample of subjects who felt a state of hopelessness experienced the development of organic diseases shortly after the incidents.

The discoverer of the phenomenon of “learned helplessness”, the American psychologist M. E. Seligman, discovered in studies on rats that those animals who learned to overcome difficulties at an early age subsequently possessed stable health even in a situation of experimentally created chronic stress (irreversible pain shocks). In such rats, malignant tumors rarely took root, they had high humoral and cellular immunity. Those animals that capitulated to difficulties continued to behave passively, even in negative situations with a real way out, and quickly died from engrafted tumors.

Thus, the negative internal attitudes of a person found when working with imaginative thinking regarding his physical condition or ability to cope with life difficulties often provoke an unconscious state of helplessness, contributing to early aging and increasing a person’s susceptibility to diseases.

There are many techniques for dealing with negative attitudes, which are based on the techniques of logic and rationalization to change the worldview. But the visualization method is the most effective and widely applicable due to the universality of the language of images. Imaginative thinking, which originates from every person’s childhood, remains a reliable link with unconscious and bodily processes.

Thus, the well-known placebo effect is directly related to the “imaginative” effect on the body. However, in this case, the mental image of a highly effective drug is reinforced by a physically existing “dummy” tablet. By paying attention to the image of an effective therapeutic drug, the body accompanies the encounter with those physiological changes that correspond to the memory of how good treatment improves health. Reducing the state of helplessness due to the belief in the action of a “pacifier” increases the resistance of the immune system, which promotes recovery.

Since ancient times, mankind has known various “assistants” of imaginative thinking, “dummies” of the past: magic amulets, enchanted objects, shamanic rituals, magic spells. It is no coincidence that children often turn to such images for therapeutic visualization purposes, having become familiar with stories from fairy tales and legends.

Individual approach

According to V. Schutz, the less strictly the instruction is given, the more likely it is that the imagination will generate an image that is most closely related to the internal attitudes of a person regarding a problem or illness.

Some people perceive reality mainly through visual images. For others, auditory, tactile, motor, and other types of images may be more familiar. Therefore, to ensure the greatest effectiveness, some people will need to draw an image, and some will need to feel it in their body, hear it, dance, speak it. There are no restrictions.

Understanding the purpose

Working with images of problems and illnesses does not involve self-deception. Carl and Stephanie Simonton, heads of the Dallas Cancer Research Center, note that when working with imaging, some patients begin to feel that they are lying to themselves: continuing to convince themselves that their own tumors are shrinking, patients nevertheless feel their increase. However, the purpose of the work is not to imagine what is actually happening with the problem, but to imagine the desired result. It is important to adjust the body and psyche to recovery.

Consistency of attitude

Dr. Kenneth Pelliter of the Stanford University School of Medicine writes that the brain is unable to distinguish between a real threat and its sensation. Therefore, a very important rule when working with the imagination is to maintain a positive, confident attitude. In between classes, it is recommended not to give in to negative thoughts, as well as during work, you need to maintain control over the image, not allowing it to worsen or remain frightening and strong. It is necessary to constantly transform the image of the problem, making it controllable and manageable.

Focus on work

Working with imagination is most effective when it takes place in a safe and calm environment, regularly and with high engagement. It is very important to start working with a relaxation procedure that helps focus attention on the internal environment of the body or the mental world.

If your thoughts start to wander and switch to other processes, you should stop working to answer the question: “Why is it difficult to concentrate?” After the time required to work with the internal resistance, you can return to the visualization process.

A variety of approaches

Working with imaginative thinking does not always involve using free images. It is possible to use specially developed techniques with predefined visualization algorithms. Psychotherapists and psychologists, special programs and audio instructions, metaphorical maps and books can help you feel inner support. Working with images can be done alone or in a group.

The variety of approaches is due to the versatility of human individuality and is designed to provide the greatest effect for each individual on the path to longevity and a happy life.