ABSTRACT
Directed imagery exercises have been used for thousands of years as ways to try to create inner states of mind, deepen insights, and develop certain abilities. The most obvious examples are those of compassion-focused imagery as used in Buddhist practice (Leighton, 2003). In the past 100 years imagery has been used by a variety of psychotherapists – from Jung’s (1875-1961) use of active imagination to explore archetypal processes, complexes and growth, to the work on imagery as a desensitisation process for painful emotions and memories. Major reviews of the tasks, forms, functions, difficulties, advantages and disadvantages, and dangers in the use of imagery in therapy now exist (Arbuthnott, Arbuthnott, & Rossiter, 2001; Frederick & McNeal, 1999; Hall, Hall, Stradling, & Young, 2006; Holmes & Hackmann, 2004; Rossman, 2000; Singer, 2006) and will not be explored further here. Rather this chapter will focus only on the theory and processes involved in the use of compassion-focused imagery.
