This influential book shows how the systematic use of mental imagery can have a positive influence on the course of disease and can help patients to cope with pain. In Imagery in Healing, Jeanne Achterberg brings together modern scientific research and the practices of the earliest healers to support her claim that imagery is the world's oldest and most powerful healing resource. The book has become a classic in the field of alternative medicine and continues to be read by new generations of health care professionals and lay people. In Imagery in Healing, Achterberg explores in detail the role of the imagination in the healing process. She begins with an exploration of the tradition of shamanism, "the medicine of the imagination," surveying this time-honored way of touching the nexus of the mind, body, and soul. She then traces the history of the use of imagery within Western medicine, including a look at contemporary examples of how health care professionals have drawn on the power of the imagination through such methods as hypnosis, biofeedback, and the placebo effect. Ultimately, Achterberg looks to the science of immunology to uncover the most effective ground for visualization, and she presents data demonstrating how imagery can have a direct and profound impact on the workings of the immune system. Drawing on art, science, history, anthropology, and medicine, Imagery in Healing offers a highly readable overview of the profound and complex relationship between the imagination and the body.

Emphasizes the transformative power of creative visualization techniques to help those suffering from trauma, crisis, PTSD, addiction, emotional upheaval, grief, conflict, and illness through the healing process, explaining how to use the challenges of life as an opportunity for growth and self-realization. Original.

The comprehensive guide to imagery therapy for: the common cold, bone fractures, arthritis, hypertension, headaches, asthma, infertility, depression, pms, anxiety, obesity, and much more For years it has been widely known that the mind exerts a tremendous influence on our physical well-being—often determining the difference between health and disease. In Healing Visualizations, Dr. Gerald Epstein, a psychiatrist and pioneer in waking dream therapy, provides a new vision of how the mind can help heal the body through the power of “imaginal medicine.” Developed over fifteen years of clinical practice, Dr. Epstein’s safe, potent techniques for tapping the mind’s healing energy enable us to influence our own health with remarkably fast, positive results. More than seventy-five exercises cover specific health problems form common ailments such as allergies, colds, backaches, headaches, and arthritis to life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Each exercise takes just one to five minutes. And there are special visualizations for overall wellness that you can personalize to fit your own daily health and fitness needs. A revolutionary and inspiring program, Healing Visualizations is a major contribution to understanding, restoring, and maintaining the healthful unity of body and mind.

A practical guide to using the powers of the mind and the imagination to form rituals that can help the body restore and maintain health Winner of the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award As the success of Bill Moyers’s bestselling Healing and the Mind shows, the mind-body connection is widely and enthusiastically accepted. Rituals of Healing uses the mind-body connection to develop remarkable techniques for healing—which it presents with the inspiring stories of patients who have used them successfully. Designed to complement and enhance a physician’s care and established medical treatment, the rituals in this book can be customized for maximum benefit for any individual. Filled with specific exercises, visualization scripts, and insightful case histories, Rituals of Healing provides caring, attentive guidance through each step of the healing journey.

Containing more than 2,100 original mental imagery exercises drawn from the work of the great 20th-century spiritual master and healer Colette Aboulker-Muscat, this manual of spiritual teaching and rich treasury of powerful healing images can be used as a daily source of inspiration, transformation, and healing.

This groundbreaking work examines the role of women in the Western healing traditions. Drawing on the disciplines of history, anthropology, botany, archaeology, and the behavioral sciences, Jeanne Achterberg discusses the ancient cultures in which women worked as independent and honored healers; the persecution of women healers in the witch hunts of the Middle Ages; the development of midwifery and nursing as women's professions in the nineteenth century; and the current role of women and the state of the healing arts, as a time of crisis in the health-care professions coincides with the reemergence of feminine values.

This groundbreaking book offers a complete "healer's toolkit" for shamanic practitioners. Along with an in-depth discussion of the theories, practices, and ethics of shamanic healing work, this guide gives you first-hand accounts of healing experiences from the author's practice, exercises to help you develop your skills and abilities, and ceremonies to use in your own practice. The Book of Shamanic Healing covers all aspects of shamanic healing in a practical manner, with instructions on how to: Create sacred space and healing ceremonies Partner with your drum to create healing Develop your shamanic and psychic abilities Free your voice and seek your power song Communicate quickly and easily with spirit guides Explore your shadow side Perform soul retrievals and extractions safely Use dreams, stones, crystals, and colors in healing work Connect to the healing universe and live in balance