Guided visualization is a truly powerful method for going beyond the intellect and retrieving answers from the unconscious. The method can shed new light on hidden issues and retrieve impressions from the higher unconscious.
By Martha Crampton, translated by AnnaBritt Jakielski
This monograph is taken from Synthesis Journal, Volume 2 (pp. 140-152) 1975-1978
“The new development in depth psychology has made it possible to approach the realm of the unconscious from a thoroughly affirmative and constructive angle. The new holistic sense of depth is not based on a malfunction of the personality, but rather on what human nature calls us to become.”
Ira Progoff: (Depth Psychology and Modern Man, Julian Press, NY, 1969)
Guided visualization
In recent decades we have witnessed a reevaluation of the human unconscious and the development of new methods for the expanded use of its processes. The conscious use of imagination is a very effective and fruitful method for exploring the unconscious. It is of particular interest to psychotherapists, teachers, and all who seek to make use of the positive potential of unconscious processes in their lives.
In recent years, numerous techniques have been developed that make use of mental imagery. These techniques can be considered methods for exploring the unconscious through the imagination under the guidance of the conscious intellect and will .
When used in this disciplined way (as opposed to mere daydreaming or unproductive fantasies), mental imagery offers an opportunity to explore new areas of the unconscious while maintaining contact with our rational faculties. We are able, at will, to switch back and forth between the direct experience of our inner world—including its emotional components—and a more rational, analytical approach from which to consider such experience. This has the advantage over nocturnal dreams of allowing us to work directly with the visualized material and derive its meaning, from which we can then move towards conflict resolution.
Mental imagery techniques can play a valuable, integrative role by bridging the conscious and the unconscious, and between the rational and emotional sides of our personality.
There is a wide range of techniques at our disposal. Some are best used with an experienced person who can be our guide, while others can be used effectively with or without such help. Among the latter is a technique with many different applications called “Answers from the Unconscious.” (M. Crampton, “The Use of Mental Imagery in Psychosynthesis,” Synthesis Graduate School, SF, CA). This method is generally used to obtain information and gain guidance and a better understanding of our inner processes. The basic idea is to formulate a question that we address to our unconscious, and allow the answer to emerge in the form of a mental image . Such an answer will spontaneously appear—and in most cases with a surprising touch. It is important not to reject images that may seem irrelevant. Usually, we will understand their meaning when we give them sufficient attention. If a series of unrelated images arise, the first one will often prove to be the most meaningful.
We don’t have to remember the question we are asking. Once it is clearly formulated, we can turn our attention to the answer that will emerge. The mind thus assumes an expectant attitude – one that is at once receptive and relaxed, but also focused – in the same way that we listen for a distant sound, or when we wait in the cinema for the images of a film to appear on the screen.
People can often do this spontaneously on the first try. Sometimes, however, a beginner in this technique will try too hard or try to “make something happen,” and this blocks the spontaneous results of the process. We can also become too nervous that nothing will happen and that no images will come. This nervousness can be reduced if we know that the unconscious is a large storehouse of images that are available at any time if we are sufficiently relaxed and have confidence that the process will work.
There are many questions that can be fruitfully explored, provided they are important, authentic, and existential to the questioner. For example, we may choose to ask a question that has to do with our personal growth or our relationships with other people. This can be illustrated by the example of a woman who closed her eyes and asked, “What is it about my behavior that makes my husband angry?” She was shown an image that showed her that it was her martyrdom. When she analyzed the meaning of the image, it helped her understand how her behavior provoked her husband’s anger. As another example, a man asked, “What is the cause of my headache?” He saw himself hitting his head with a hammer, and later he hit his mother. He realized that the severe headache stemmed from him turning the severe anger he had felt in his childhood against his mother against himself. When he realized this and expressed his anger in a harmless, cathartic way, the headache disappeared.
Answers from the Unconscious can also be used to get in touch with the meaning of a dream symbol, a drawing or other symbolic material. The technique can also be used for the initial phase of “grounding” (anchoring), where symbolic material is related to the life we live. For this purpose, we can ask the image to show us how the message the image gives us has to do with our daily life. In response to such a question, we may see ourselves in a concrete life situation. A woman who first used the Answers from the Unconscious technique to ask what the next challenge in her development was, saw a picture of hooks and had a feeling of wanting to grab or hold on to something. She could not understand what it meant, so she asked for a picture of a real-life situation where she had experienced that feeling. She then saw herself grabbing her husband, making herself dependent on him and refusing to take responsibility for her own actions.
This last example shows that it is entirely possible – and very appropriate – to ask for an image that expresses or is related to a particular emotion we are experiencing. This approach enables us to better understand the meaning and cause of our emotions and to get in touch with the emotions that we have repressed, so that we can relate to the needs and urges that created them. It is particularly powerful when it comes to a recurring emotion. This approach is also very useful in a therapeutic situation when the client is not aware of anything specific to work with and a suitable place to start is needed.
Transpersonal techniques
The Unconscious Response technique is also beneficial in finding more constructive ways of being or acting – which is the next phase of anchoring. For example, we might ask, “How could I behave in class so that my students would be more engaged in their work?” or “What do I need to develop to overcome my fear of what others think?” Often the answers will suggest the development of a particular inner attitude or transpersonal quality such as “joy”, “courage”, “self-acceptance”, etc., which we can benefit from developing.
Sometimes, when we use the Unconscious Response technique, it is necessary to go through several steps to find an answer that is truly useful and meaningful. In this way, the answer to one question is used as a starting point for formulating another, more specific question, and so on, until we feel satisfied with the final answer. A woman who had asked, “What do I need to work on?” saw a wall. The wall seemed too weak and too general to be useful to her, so she asked, “What is the concrete meaning of the wall to me?” This time, she saw a saw, which, after some consideration, put her in touch with an inner “sharp” quality. To anchor the experience more deeply, she asked the unconscious to show her how she was sharp with other people in her life. She then saw herself in various situations where she expressed critical attitudes towards certain people. She took time to understand how her very critical tendencies created a “wall” between herself and others. Finally, to conclude in a constructive way, she asked what she needed to develop within herself to overcome this tendency. The answer she received was an image of a space that contained both herself and the other person. Unlike the original wall that separated her from others, this image showed a path where she took others into her own space. She sensed a way to identify herself empathetically with the needs of other people, so that she could experience others “from the inside” rather than from the outside through a critical attitude. As she continued to concentrate on this image, her general feeling of oneness with others grew in intensity. She had a peak experience where she felt that there was great joy and love associated with this kind of oneness.
This example shows the importance of taking sufficient time to reflect on the meaning and significance of each image so that we understand its full impact and message. It also shows the principle of ending in a constructive and positive way so that we are not left with a feeling of blockage and limitation. Ending the process in a positive way has a generally encouraging and vitalizing effect: it enables us to see our positive qualities and realize that we can turn an apparent obstacle into a step on the path of our growth by mobilizing the will to overcome it.
Another way to derive meaning from the images we receive is to make a thoroughly rational and intuitive interpretation of their character and function. Below is an example.
A client saw himself carrying a plank with five lamps on it, connected by a cord to the East Indian shop where he had bought it. It reminded him of a Jewish seven-branched candlestick or a candlestick used for religious purposes, although the number of candles was five and not the traditional seven, and the candles were table lamps and not candles. His association with five lamps was five working days. He saw the lamps as something used in a living room where people gathered. In other words, they were candles used for a common rather than a religious purpose. Images of Indians from East India, he said, were related to oriental spirituality or mysticism and symbols of inner light, but to him they were also great talkers who tended to talk things through rather than act. This related to his sense of pride in carrying the candle and a desire to display some kind of trophy that he had won. He was then able to see that this image expressed his spiritual pride. He had been so preoccupied with talking about his experience and displaying his “achievement,” he said, that he dissipated the energy and trivialized a sacred experience by making it “living room talk,” a product of the “five days of work,” and a personal achievement rather than “a gift from the Lord on the Sabbath day.” (Op.cit, pp. 147-148)
The psychosynthesis technique – identification
Another valuable mental imagery technique is to identify with the person or thing we are visualizing by imagining that we are “becoming” that person or thing. This approach was extensively used by Perls (FS Perls, RF Hefferline and P. Goodman: Gestalt Therapy , Julian Press, NY, 1951) and discussed with Gerard (R. Gerard: Symbolic Identification . The paper was presented at the 5th International Conference on Psychosynthesis in Rome in 1967) under the name ” Symbolic Visualization ” . By means of this approach we are better able to understand the various elements of a dream or visualization. The elements in such a symbolic representation usually represent tendencies or traits of the personality. By identifying with them in our imagination we can sense their quality and take these hitherto unrecognized aspects of ourselves into our own. This will enable us to begin a process of transmutation and integration of these inner elements. It will also help us develop empathy and avoid distorting our understanding of other people by projecting erroneous aspects onto them.
Symbolic identification can also be used to expand consciousness and achieve a deeper sense of participation in and unity with the universe. “Becoming” such natural symbols as a flower, a tree, a rock, a river, the ocean, the sun, or even the galaxy can be especially valuable for this purpose. This is especially effective and appropriate after personal work that has resulted in the elimination of an obstacle. It is possible to attempt this form of symbolic identification on one’s own, although we can generally enter more fully into the experience when we use some form of guided visualization.
In addition to the basic visualization technique, where we let an image appear before our mind’s eye, we can use other techniques to obtain answers from the unconscious. One technique could be, for example, to ask to see a word or a sentence written on a board, instead of the more pictorial symbols that have been discussed so far. Or it is possible to combine visual and auditory techniques by entering into a dialogue with an image after it has appeared. While most people tend to receive answers in the form of visual images, others who are not as visually inclined will more often get auditory impressions, as if they are hearing an “inner voice”, or perhaps they experience an image in the form of a movement. A wide range of “channels” can thus be used – either individually or in combination – to receive answers. In fact, what we call mental “images” can include all of our senses. (Exercises for developing all the sensory impressions of the imagination can be found in Roberto Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis – A Collection of Basic Writings , Forlaget Levende Visdom 2005).
As we explore the elements in our images, we may find that some seem to be in conflict with others. This is a sign that we need to make an integration. One way to begin this is to establish an inner dialogue between the elements involved and gradually work towards a greater mutual understanding. We can thereby achieve greater coordination and possibly integrate the aspects that are in conflict. This process usually becomes deeper and more meaningful if, at some point, we actually imagine ourselves becoming first one element and then the other. In this way, we will experience more precisely what the needs of each party are and what message it gives us.
Integration of the conflicting parts is usually most effectively achieved by awakening a symbol of the “impartial witness.” Occasionally, and especially when there is a strong need to promote the ability to take care of ourselves, we can think of this witness as a “wise and compassionate person” who represents the “Higher Self.” My own experience is that this designation tends to awaken more love, where the impartial witness tends to promote a clear understanding and insight into the given problems. With the help of this objective element of consciousness, we are usually able to understand more clearly the true picture and how to correct the patterns that are out of balance.
It is a particularly powerful technique to evoke an image of a sage or other symbol of inner wisdom and enter into a dialogue with this image. This can open up very meaningful insights and very valuable guidance that we can apply to almost any inner and outer situation. There are many symbols of inner wisdom such as a Wise Old Man, a Wise Old Woman, a phoenix bird, an eagle or a dove, a gemstone, a waterfall, a spring, a flame, the sun, a star or the light. Sometimes these symbols appear spontaneously, or they can be consciously awakened. Each symbol has its own special value, its own form of wisdom. For example, the masculine and feminine wisdom archetypes are often complementary, with the masculine symbol usually providing insights that are of a nature of guidance and affirmation, and the feminine symbol having a nature of care. It is therefore worth experimenting with several of these symbols or allowing the subconscious to choose the symbol that is most appropriate to our needs at that time.
In communication with the symbol of inner wisdom, verbal dialogue is sometimes the most important aspect. At other times, the visual image plays the central role. At other times, the experience takes place primarily on the intuitive level. There is then a direct experience of certain facts without much verbal or visual exchange, and the experience can take on the character of contemplation, of absorption in the consciousness that has been communicated.
Precautions against pitfalls
When we awaken responses from the unconscious, there are certain precautions we must be aware of, since the procedure – as with other effective techniques – is not without pitfalls or limitations. It can reveal a wealth of knowledge to us, but it can also cause us problems if we do not use it wisely. For example, when we feel confident in the validity of the technique, we must be prepared to apply the answers we have received in our daily lives. If we receive too much knowledge that we do not use, it undermines the will and disperses the energy, thus retarding our growth.
We must also be aware of our own pace of development – what is realistic for us – because if we try to move too quickly, we risk losing the purpose. In other words, we must be sensitive to the scope of the material we are dealing with. This is especially important for people who are currently or have previously had serious emotional problems, or for those who have just begun their personal development. In general, we must use reason to avoid taking on more than we can handle, especially if we are not working with a counselor, therapist or other type of guide – or be prepared to seek help if necessary as a result of the material that emerges.
To receive the best answer, it is best to ask for it when we are as “collected” as possible in our consciousness. That is, we step back from the situation and view it from a distance, disidentifying ourselves from it. If we have learned how to do this, we identify with the “I” or personal self.
Another important and more subtle consideration when seeking answers from our unconscious has to do with “who to ask for answers from.” The woman who wanted to know what it was about her behavior that made her husband angry could have directed her question to the unconscious in general, or she could have included an important element. This element could have been the image of her husband or the Wise Old Man. The “husband” would likely have answered from his own subjective perspective, while the Wise Old Man would have given a more objective answer and possibly advice on how to improve the situation. The one would have given her valuable insight into the situation from her husband’s point of view (rightly or wrongly), and would have helped her develop understanding and compassion for him. The other would have been more inclusive and gotten closer to the core of the problem, and might have suggested a solution.
In general, the subconscious mind has many layers, and as we have seen, different kinds of responses can come from different levels. If we choose to address the elements at different levels, such as the sub-personalities involved and the Wise Old Man, it is best to work with the higher elements last, as they have a higher and more inclusive and synthetic quality and will therefore help us integrate all the previous material.
In most cases—and especially the first time we use this technique—it is sufficient, at least initially, to address the “unconscious” on a general level. In this case, it is important to approach the answer on its own terms. In other words, we must be appropriately cautious before accepting answers from the unconscious—or any other answer in life—at face value and then acting on them. The answer may come from a different source than the one we addressed, and thus be more or less objective and more or less appropriate. We can therefore best approach the answers with our common sense, discernment, and objectivity, just as we would with any advice we receive. However, even when answers come from a subpersonality or other element of the middle or lower unconscious, they can be of great value; not necessarily as something we must follow, but definitely as a source of understanding the element, how it manifests itself, and what its needs are.
Other uses for guided visualization
These techniques for eliciting responses from the unconscious have been used effectively not only for personal growth and psychotherapy, but also in areas such as education, creative problem solving, and group work. They are an effective method that can complement purely rational techniques by throwing a new spin on a situation and opening up new possibilities to be explored. Mental imagery often works with a speed, depth, and vividness that can replace many hours of just “talking” about a topic.
As a group technique, the method is effective for exploring a question of general interest or for creating personal material that can later be discussed in smaller groups. (R. Desoille has suggested concrete symbols that can be used for group visualizations and individual therapy (R. Desoille: “Guided visualization”*), Synthesis Graduate School, San Francisco, CA) and HK Leuner (H. Leuner: “Guided Affective Imagery”, American Journal of Psychotherapy, January). Among these are the meadow, the mountain, the river, the grail, the sword and the house, etc.).
Mental imagery techniques are also used in research, education, and industrial settings for group problem solving. The “Synectics” method, developed by Gordon (WJJ Gordon: Synectics , Harper, NY, 1961), uses metaphors and analogies, derived from areas outside the problem under study, to open up new ways of looking at things. In one of these steps in the Synectics method, called “personal analogy,” group members imagine what it would be like to actually be the object they are studying—whether it is a bird, a windmill, or an octopus. This is essentially the same technique used in symbolic identification.
In the field of education, Gordon (WJJ Gordon: The Metaphorical Way of Learning and Knowing , Porpoise Books, Cambridge, 1966) has also applied the principles of synectics, which uses a personally experienced metaphor and analogy as an instrument in the formation of understanding. In a lesson on Boyle’s Law, some children were asked to imagine what it would be like if they were in a cylinder and a piston was pressed down on them. In their experiential understanding of the principle that as volume decreases, pressure increases, they made statements such as “You are being squeezed and squeezed, just as if you were a molecule getting squeezed more and more between the walls of the cylinder and the other molecules” and “As things get closer to me, I hit more and more things … more and more often”. Gordon assumes that such learning methods are more effective because they allow the child to understand a concept from the inside, rather than simply by memorizing a formula. There is also a very valuable indirect lesson for the students in experiencing that they are indirectly told that their inner world, feelings and experiences are important.
There are many other good opportunities in the field of education. Visualization techniques can be of great value in helping children and adults express their creativity. Guided visualization exercises can help people enter a rich world of inner experiences that can be expressed in many ways including writing, drama, music, and art. The “Method” school and the “creative drama technique” use such techniques to develop dramatic imagination. Morgan (F. Morgan, Here and Now: An Approach to Writing Through Perception, Viking, NY, 1972) has used techniques based on the visual elicitation of feelings and sensations as a way of awakening material that can be used in teaching creative writing. For example, he suggests that students recall a childhood experience, concentrating on sensory information such as colors, textures, sounds, smells, bodily sensations, etc.
The work in integrated education (G. Brown: Human Teaching for Human Learning: An Introduction to Confluent Education , Viking, NY, 1971) is about integrating the cognitive and emotional domains. Mental imagery techniques can be helpful in this process by helping students to come into experiential contact with material from various other disciplines. The symbolic identification technique can, for example, be used to arouse compassion for people in different cultural contexts or with other forms of life. Imagination can be expanded through the use of drama techniques. Projected images of the “Response from the Unconscious” type can be used to explore students’ attitudes to various topics (eg, “Allow an image to emerge that reflects your attitude toward the role of government or your perception of people of color”).
A course offered by the University of Vermont on “Myths, Symbols, and Rituals” uses mental imagery exercises to add an experiential dimension to the theoretical material. De Mille (R. De Mille: Put Your Mother On The Ceiling , Walker, NY, 1955) has developed a series of guided fantasies for young children designed to free the imagination and express emotions and to open up new ways of looking at things. In the areas of creative problem solving and creativity development, the author has worked with a number of clients to help them solve problems in a variety of disciplines from mathematics and engineering to art and philosophy. A number of people who had hit a wall in their work with research problems of a theoretical or practical nature were able to break through to a creative solution using this technique. The purpose of working in this way is twofold: to help people remove blocks in the personality that prevented a clear understanding of the problem or solution, and to help them, through mental images, get in touch with the creative resources of the higher unconscious.
All in all, the mental world is a vast field to explore, an endlessly fascinating field with great potential utility. Imagination, or our mental ability to create images, is a wonderful tool that we can learn to develop for human growth and enjoyment. Like all tools, it can be used for good or bad purposes. Coue stated that when imagination and will are in conflict, imagination will prevail. So we have the choice of bringing our imagination into harmony with the will or allowing it to function in a chaotic and negative way. It is a challenge for all who seek to realize their highest potential to learn to use imagination wisely and intelligently so that it can play a role in our growth towards wholeness.
Martha Crampton (born 1978) is a member of the faculty of The Synthesis Graduate School for the Study of Man in London and Rotterdam. She is the Director of the Institute of Psychosynthesis in London and a Senior Fellow of the Association of Professional Psychologists of the Province of Quebec. She received didactic psychosynthesis training from Roberto Assagioli and founded the Canadian Institute of Psychosynthesis in Montreal in 1972. She has been an assistant professor at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, a clinical psychologist at St. Justine Hospital in Montreal, a consultant to the Quebec Ministry of Education, and a co-founder of the International Association of Mental Imagery Techniques. She has written a number of articles on mental imagery and a monograph on its methods and an account of its use in psychotherapy, and has contributed to several books including Four Psychologies Applied to Education and Les Nouvelle Psychoterapies.
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