Cognitive restructuring through guided imagery : lessons from Gestalt therapy

[Summary] In this chapter, a guided imagery method used in gestalt therapy was described in detail and analyzed into its specific components. The basic principles underlying the imagery work were shown to be analogous to those upon which standard cognitive therapy is founded, and this was illustrated by means of case examples, first from one of Perls' dreamwork seminars and then from the author's case files. It was shown how the method could be used to elicit the idiosyncratic meanings of the client in relation to a specific theme and to identify core dysfunctional assumptions. Illustrations were given of specific techniques that could be employed to challenge and restructure these cognitions. The benefits of the imagery modality are that it provides: (1) access to cognitions underlying emotional responses that may be difficult to identify through questioning, (2) a holistic presentation of networks of beliefs, and (3) a means of keeping the client in contact with avoided painful affect. Once a good conceptualization of the client's problem has been achieved, guided imagery provides a modality within which specific strategies for cognitive restructuring can be facilitated through guided discovery. Therapists who are willing to explore this modality and find an aptitude for it will be gaining access to something that will greatly enrich their potential for helping and can provide exciting avenues for developing their own creativity in the challenging work of enabling clients to identify and free themselves from dysfunctional personal meaning systems