Imagination as Remedy: The Underused Resource in Psychotherapy
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Hey Hey Reader, My clients hear me say this all the time: “Imagination is one of the most underused resources in the field of psychotherapy.” In an attempt to be taken seriously, psychotherapy divorced itself from its roots. Shocking, I know. How colonial of them. The etymology of the word psyche is Spirit, so psychotherapy translates to spirit healing. Spirit refers to the animating force, and I would argue that imagination gives life and breath to our inner world, enriching our outer world in turn. This is why the arts are so often targeted by systems intent on maintaining oppression. Imagination is an avenue for liberation. In cultures with animist leanings, dreams and the imaginal realms were woven into their way of being and relating. Our ancestors knew that healing was facilitated by connecting to an intelligent wisdom expressed through symbols, metaphors, and instinct. Just look at the rich world-building mythology of cultures throughout history and across the globe. Symbols, myths, and metaphors reflect our inner world, our emotional states, beliefs, and the ways we make meaning. And in doing so, reveal clues to the resilience and wisdom that already exist within us. What makes this challenging is contemporary society’s over-reliance on rationalism and materialism within science. We tend to discredit our imagination as not serious or infantile. You can’t run a double-blind study on people’s imaginations in an emergent therapeutic process. I believe that over-reliance on scientific proof is keeping my field reductive. What I’ve Seen in My PracticeWhen clients weave in imagination, they create rich inner landscapes that offer healing possibilities beyond anything a specific protocol could hope to reach. More and more clients are wanting to bring in dance and imagination while I intuitively DJ and guide their movement explorations. When the body is given permission to move and tell its story in motion, clients get to embody something different than what they’re used to and integrate that corrective experience on a deeper level. For example, I’ve seen clients create imaginal, often surreal landscapes that hold symbolic representations of their trauma, their feelings of restriction, and the path toward their own liberation. Through their own instinct, they reweave these environments and they report feeling safer and more expanded in their body. If you’ve ever felt like talk therapy wasn’t quite reaching something, this might be why. If you’re interested in exploring movement, music, and imagination as part of your therapeutic process, reach out. I am accepting new clients. The Brain and ImaginationThe hippocampus plays an important role not only in forming memories but in imagining possibilities that haven’t happened yet. This is fascinating because it implies memory and imagination share similar pathways. We know that part of trauma is the brain repeating or reimagining past memories as future experiences. So, does dreaming up new, wild, even fantastical imaginal scenarios help shift the pattern from past-focused to future-focused? This is what I’m noticing and exploring in my work. Imagination is creative and playful. When play enters the picture, we signal to the body that it is safer. The brain and nervous system respond by allowing for more cognitive flexibility and lessening our stress response and symptoms. Free-form creative movement like dance activates many parts of the brain, most notably the cerebellum and the vestibular system. These systems are highly adaptable and learn through novel, dynamic movements, creating new brain maps that help us feel more confident and therefore safer navigating the world. The safer we feel, the more cognitive flexibility we have, and the more we can expand into creative and imaginal realms. This is also our path to reimagining a world different than the one we’re currently in. We are not puzzles to be solved by the right protocol. We are imaginative, embodied beings whose healing often lives in the spaces between words: in movement, metaphor, symbol, and dream. When psychotherapy remembers this, it stops trying to fix people and starts helping them return to themselves. The imaginal realm is not a detour from serious therapeutic work. For many, it is the most direct route home. Here’s April's DJ set titled: Imagination as Remedy Your invitation: For the next 15 minutes, let your body follow the inner stirrings of your imagination through breath and shapeshifting your body. Remember, there's no right or wrong way to move. I AM LOOKING FOR A VENUE IN VANCOUVER TO HOLD MONTHLY DANCES… KNOW OF ONE? PLEASE LET ME KNOW. EVENTSCheck out my events page to stay up-to-date. IN PERSONSunshine Coast Grantham's Hall in Gibsons Wednesdays, April 1 / 22 | 7-8:30 $20 at the door or pay via e-transfer in advance HERE.(hello@innerflowcounselling.com) ONLINEPlease register early. I need a minimum of 5 participants to offer online dances. Cut off date, Friday, April 24th.
SUNSHINE COAST EMBODIMENT COLLECTIVEWednesday evening dances on the Sunshine Coast. Alternating with Julie Plotkin teaching the 5 Rhythms and myself teaching The 360 Emergence you get to deepen your embodiment practice with a DJ-facilitated, lightly guided dance practice. |
