ISBN : 9780199234028
Imagery is one of the new, exciting frontiers in cognitive therapy. From the outset of cognitive therapy, its founder Dr. Aaron T. Beck recognised the importance of imagery in the understanding and treatment of patient's problems. However, despite Beck's prescience, clinical research on imagery, and the integration of imagery interventions into clinical practice, developed slowly. It is only in the past 10 years that most writing and research on imagery in cognitive therapy has been conducted. The Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy is a landmark book, which will play an important role in the next phase of cognitive therapy's development. Clinicians and researchers are starting to recognise the centrality of imagery in the development, maintenance and treatment of psychological disorders - for example, in social phobia, agoraphobia, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, childhood trauma, and personality disorder. In the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, researchers are identifying the key role that imagery plays in emotion, cognition and psychopathology. The Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy has been written both for clinicians and researchers. For clinicians, it is a user-friendly, practical guide to imagery, which will enable therapists to understand imagery phenomenology, and to integrate imagery-based interventions into their cognitive therapy practice. For researchers, it provides a state-of-the-art summary of imagery research, and points the way to future studies. Written by three well-respected CBT researcher-clinicians, it is essential reading for all cognitive therapists, who have recognised the limitations of purely 'verbal' CBT techniques, and want to find new ways to work with clients with psychological disorders.
Foreword
Preface: How to use this book
Invited Essay: From ancient shamanic healing to 21st century psychotherapy: The central role of imagery methods in effecting psychological change
PART ONE: IMAGERY IN CONTEXT
1. Imagery in the tradition of Beckian cognitive therapy
2. The phenomenology of imagery in clinical practice
3. Experimental research on imagery: Implications for clinical practice
4. The effective components of imagery interventions in clinical practice
PART TWO: PREPARATION FOR IMAGERY INTERVENTIONS
5. Establishing the platform for imagery interventions: General principles and practices
6. Assessment of imagery
7. Micro-formulation of imagery
PART THREE: IMAGERY INTERVENTIONS: REMOVING AND TRANSFORMING NEGATIVE IMAGERY
8. Working with intrusive day-time images
9. Using imagery to work with upsetting memories
10. Working with night-time imagery
11. Working with metaphorical imagery
PART FOUR: IMAGERY INTERVENTIONS: CREATING POSITIVE IMAGERY
12. Positive imagery: Creating goals, developing new skills and problem solving
13. Positive imagery: Creating new ways of being
PART 5: CONCLUDING COMMENTS
14. Future directions in working with imagery in cognitive therapy