Spiritual Dimensions of Guided Imagery and Music

As its creator Helen Bonny conceived it, Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is both a powerful approach to music-centered psychotherapy and a way to explore the outer reaches of consciousness. This book explores those outer reaches, bringing spiritual experience directly into focus. Drawing on the author’s forty-five years of experience in music therapy and twenty-five years practicing GIM, this insightful work presents an array of themes related to the spiritual quest:: the importance of detecting dangerous inflation in clients who are pursuing a spiritual path; the mystical insights of clients with autism; the integration of meditation and mindfulness in GIM practice; Gestalt dream work, subtle energy healing, and mandala analysis as methods for enhancing spiritual insights through GIM; the transformative potential of spiritual breakthroughs in GIM to heal grieving; the kundalini experiences of a dedicated meditator and GIM trainee; and the weaving of GIM into a Buddhist chaplaincy internship in hospice care. The chapters include case material illustrating these various paths to spirituality, and throughout the book, the author describes how her own consciousness has evolved in relation to GIM and its myriad spiritual dimensions.