Exercising the Right Side of Your Brain, Part One of Images and Symbols: The Glue of Habit, the Lubricant of Change

NOTE: Images and Symbols: The Glue of Habit, The Lubricant of Change is a soon-to-be-published manual for therapist, coaches, and their clients

Fifty Imagery Exercises and Other Techniques for Therapists, Coaches, and Their Clients

BY ARLENE HARDER, MA, MFT

Imagine you are sitting in a boat tied to the shore of a small fog-shrouded lake. The water is so still and calm that you, too, become still and calm. You become comfortably silent as you wait for the fog to lift and reveal what has been there, but was simply hidden.

Guided imagery is like that. It helps you step back from the busyness of the day and become open to peace and harmony arising from within. Remaining relaxed and yet alert, you are led to a place where you can disconnect from the chattering of the mind, where you can find the courage to forgive yourself and others, embrace qualities of the human spirit, uncover symbols of strength and courage, create harmony and wholeness in your life, and expand your mind by making use of both sides of your brain.

With more than twenty years experience in working with imagery and symbols, I have now created a manual of more than fifty guided imagery exercises and other techniques for accessing hidden resources that lie within each of us.

The book is written to help therapists and coaches become more effective by giving them ready-made, easily modified exercises that save them the time needed to create the exercises themselves. It allows clients — and those who are considering becoming a client of therapists, coaches, and other counselors — to experience some of the ways they can draw upon the core strengths they carry but may not have known how to access.

The manual is divided into four parts identified on the right.

© Copyright 2008, Arlene Harder, MA, MFT