Mental Imagery in Career Counseling and Life Planning: A Review of Research and Intervention Methods

Abstract

The use of imagery in career counseling and life planning continues to increase just as the use of imagery in counseling and psychotherapy increases. The rationale for using imagery in career counseling and life planning is the same as in counseling and psychotherapy: It allows the client and counselor to bring into awareness unconscious material that is already influencing choices and makes this material usable in future planning. Imagey also allows the client to try on alternative roles. Several studies are cited that indicate that the imagery components of daydreams and fantasies are useful tools for career exploration and life planning when they are accessible to clients and properly processed. Relevant counseling applications and research studies are cited. Some recent tools for eliciting and processing these daydreams and fantasies are presented, and limits as well as benefits of techniques are discussed.

Getting Students Beyond Ideologies: Using Heterosexist Guided imagery in the Classroom

“…It is also used in health fields to prepare patients for surgery, reduce pain during healing (Farrugia and Fetter 2009;Harrell and Beiman 1978;Utay and Miller 2006;Watanabe et al 2006), enhance addiction recovery treatment (Erblich et al 2009), and strengthen the immune system (Davenport 1996;Trakhtenberg 2008). (See also Beebe and Wyatt 2009;Galyean and Krishnamurti 1981;Lynn et al 2003;Murphy 1996;Pearson 2003;Skovholt et al 1989).…”

Multiple intelligences training for counsellors: reflections on a pilot programme

“…The use of imagery has been shown to be a highly effective support to the therapeutic process (Hass- Cohen & Carr, 2008;Lazarus, 1982;McNiff, 2004;Rogers, 1993;Skovholt, Morgan, & Negron-Cunningham, 1989). Art therapy has been used in a variety of ways, in a wide array of contexts, with extensive research indicating many positive outcomes.…”

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development, 1989

“…Functional skills analysis and mental imagery and feedback from testing were favored by a large margin over other techniques. A review of the use of mental imagery in career intervention by Skovholt, Morgan, and Negron-Cunningham (1989) concluded that daydreams were not only valid predictors of occupational choice, but also that the limited evidence confirms the effectiveness of imagery as a career intervention technique. Two forms of imagery were described: guided imagery and induced relaxation with scripting.…”