..and to finish..

I'm going to use Utay & Koksza's (2007) articles finalization to end my participation of this Imagery blog. I chose it because it give (again) an example of what imagery is... enjoy!

"Your journey is over, for now... Some

of what you read may have been new and

interesting... Some may have been a useful

review... Perhaps you feel this is just the tip

of the iceberg of research in guided imagery...

And you are correct... You can feel thankful

for thisjournal facilitating this learning experience...

And, you can congratulate yourself

for your open mindedness to the potential

usefulness of guided imagery... You might

be able right now to imagine learning more

about guided imagery... Or maybe using it

with one of yourclients... Oryourself... You

can return to this article, this safe place of

learning, any time you wish... You can move

on to another article now knowing there will

be many opportunities for further learning

about guided imagery in upcoming hours,

days, weeks, months and years..." (Utay &

Kojsza, 2003).

Sources:

Utay, Joe;Miller, Megan Journal of Instructional Psychology; Guided Imagery as an Effective Therapeutic Technique: A Brief Review of its History and Efficacy Research. Mar2006, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p40-43, 4p.

the PETTLEP model

Here is a video that will help you to further understand the PETTLEP model of visualization
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8jBkIT3wTA&feature=related

coach approach to imagery..

Coaches approach on teaching imagery to his athletes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN8nq_XiIPA&feature=related

visualization as a training tool

"Imagery as a mental training tool involves the systematic practice and use of imagery to engage in vivid and controllable poly sensory imager to enhance performance." (Williams, 2010).
This video is shows how a gymnist use the visualization technique during training to improve performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD06AfbmFlY&feature=related

tools to determine your ability of visualization

Following you will find a link of a video that shows how a questionnaire is used as a tool to measure the visualizations ability of individuals. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oddJSEpUMrs

Imagery and injuries...

Imagery is being used in the medical field especially in the rehabilitation area. For injured athletes it has been incorporated as part of their therapeutic process and the positive results have been shown on several studies. The reason why imagery has been included in these type treatments has to do with the research indications of how the brain reacts to the stimulus that vivid visualization provokes (Jeannerod, 1994, in Williams, 2010). The role of imagery in sport rehabilitation is broad, it covers motivational aspects of the recovery, aids in the coping mechanism (accepting the injury/dealing with depression), is used as a tool for managing the pain, and other utilizations (Miller et. al.,2006 & Driediger et. al.,2007).
Sources:
MOLLY DRIEDIGER; CRAIG HALL1, & NICHOLA CALLOW. Imagery use by injured athletes: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Sports Science March 2006; 24(3): 261 – 271

Williams, J.M., Applied Sport Psychology, personal growth to peak performance, sixth edition 2010

another view to visualization..

When coaches introduce imagery/visualization to their athletes they can encounter mixed reactions. Some of the athletes might never hear of the technique before, some other have, and other group believe that the coach is talking about what the book 'The Secret' is based on.
To cover all aspects of imagery I will share with you a video that gives a summarized explanation of the other facet of imagery/visualization.
click on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuo9CdhFqZY&feature=related

Guided Imagery..

Guided imagery is one of the methods how visualization can be approached. Bresler and Rossman definition of guided imagery: “range of techniques from simple visualization and direct imagery-based suggestion through metaphor and storytelling” (2003, in J. Miller et. al.,2006). This technique has been used for many years in several cultures such as Native American, Judeo-Christian, Hinduism, and in traditional Chinese medicine (J. Miller et. al.,2006).  Despite the fact that guided imagery is being used now days as an aid and not as a direct treatment, it has been used for over a century in the psychotherapy field (J. Miller et. al.,2006). One of the known therapeutic techniques is the psychodrama/symboldrama psychotherapy/guided affective imagery. This therapeutic technique is based on the re-enactment of the patient’s personal problems by trained participants aiming to guide the projection and externalization of the patient (J. Miller et. al.,2006). Other techniques of guided imagery have been used in psychotherapy to help in behavior-modification such as systematic desensitization, aversive-imagery methods, symbolic-modeling techniques and implosive therapy (Schoettle,1980, in J. Miller et. al.,2006). The incorporation of guided imagery in the medical field has been increasing through the past years specially but not limited with cancer patients (J. Miller et. al.,2006). Two different studies, one dealing with cancer patients and the other dealing with participants getting physical therapy, showed more improvement in health in both cases compared to the individuals who did not receive guided imagery (J. Miller et. al.,2006). Guided imagery is also used to improve motivation , performance, and as an aid in rehabilitation from injuries with athletes. We will be talking about this subject in other post.

I will share with you part of the introduction of the Guided Imagery as an Effective Therapeutic Technique article  which gives a good example of what guided imagery is:

“Prepare to learn in an interesting way...

Some learning will be obvious and some may

occur at a different level... You are about to

begin a journey back in time to meet researchers

in the helping profession who will help

you better understand the scientific validation

for the use of guided imagery... As you

read this, you may or may not notice your

rate of reading ... or rate of breathing... As

you continue feeling as relaxed and safe as

you feel comfortable... you might be curious

about the topic, maybe excited, maybe you

have healthy doubts too... Whatever you are

feeling about guided imagery is okay... You

are free at any time to pause to contemplate...

or move on to another article for any reason.

Now better prepared, you can begin this brief

primer on some history and selected research

on therapeutic uses of guided imagery...”

(J. Miller et. al.,2006).

Guided imagery is a polysensory experience based on the description of J.M.Williams, because it involves most of  the senses which enhance the vividness of the visualization (2010). It could easily be combined with relaxation, and awarenesss methods.

Sources:

Williams, J.M., Applied Sport Psychology, personal growth to peak performance, sixth edition 2010

Utay, Joe;Miller, Megan Journal of Instructional Psychology; Guided Imagery as an Effective Therapeutic Technique: A Brief Review of its History and Efficacy Research. Mar2006, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p40-43, 4p.

imagery used only in sports...?

We continue to find beneficial uses of imagery in different fields. For example, I learn from an article found in  the International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders that imagery has been used to help children suffering of language impairment to improve their language comprehension problems (Joffe et. al., 2007).

The research has shown that using imagery helps in the comprehension process of stories. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) lack of the ability of recollections of facts from stories they read or they are being told, which hinders their ability of comprehension (Bishop and Adams 1992, Norbury and Bishop 2002, Botting and Adams 2005, in Joffe et. al., 2007). The proper mechanism of comprehension of a story requires the listener/reader to remember and associate the details in the story. This can be achieved through the creation of conclusions by either put together pieces of the story or using common sense to link the details of the story (Kintsch and Rawson 2005, in Joffe et. al., 2007). There are several theories trying to explain the relationship between memory and mental imagery, and the process of comprehension (Joffe et. al., 2007). One of them is the dual-coding theory which relates the verbal and non-verbal systems interaction where “language can evoke imagery, and imagery can evoke language” (Sadoski et al.1991, in Joffe et. al., 2007). This is a very important statement that supports some psychological approaches in sport such as self talk, verbal cues, thought stoppage, and many more (Williams, 2010).

This research used nine children with a mean age of 9.6 years old.
The training took 3 weeks long, and consisted of 5 meeting of 30 minutes of duration. Children were introduced to imagery with an explanation that they will be ‘thinking in pictures,’ then they began with activities where pictures were shown to them, and then children were asked to see those pictures in their minds (Joffe et. al., 2007). The research showed an improvement in comprehension skills by the participants. As Joffe et. al., said “good comprehension skills are crucial to academic success” (2007). I’m glad to learn that imagery is one of the tools that can be used to help making the learning process an easy and enjoyable activity.
There are several studies out there that support the multiple uses of imagery. Imagery continues to prove to help in the process of rehabilitation, and rehabilitation covers a lot of physical and/or mental specific needs. I believe it is important to learn other benefits of imagery because it will help to understand the importance of learning and practicing it not only for sports performance purposes but as an important tool for life!
Sources:
Joffe, Victoria L.;Cain, Kate; Maric, Natasa International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders; Comprehension problems in children with specific language impairment: does mental imagery training help?Nov/Dec2007, Vol. 42 Issue 6, p648-664
Williams, J.M., Applied Sport Psychology, personal growth to peak performance, sixth edition 2010

imagery as a tool...

As a cognitive process, imagery aids with the task of motor skill learning, and performance improvement (Driskell, Copper, & Moran, 1994; Hall, 2001; Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999, in Soohoo et al., 2004, 2004).  According to J.M. Williams (2010) “motor skills should be understood as a set of internal processes, associated with practice or experience, leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled movement behavior” (p.21). Williams’ explanation allows us to understand how imagery comes into play when trying to learn a new skill.  Recognizing the requirement of internal processes in the task of learning a new drill, exercise movement, or a dance step will help us focus on the role that our mind plays, and not only on the physical aspect of the drill. The symbolic learning theory is an outline that helps creating a mental method/plan that will allow you to encode the learned skill in the central nervous system (Vealey & Greenleaf, 1998, p.243, in Soohoo et al., 2004).
We want our athletes/clients/patients to achieve their goals, whatever goals they have, and by introducing them to imagery they will have a better chance to be successful. According to Driskell et al., imagery efficacy has been proven by large amount of scientific evidence (Driskell et al., 1994; Hall, 2001; Martin et al., 1999 , in Soohoo et al., 2004).
Sources
:  SooHoo, Sonya;Takemoto, Kimberly Y; McCullagh, Penny¹Journal of Sport Behavior; Dec2004, Vol. 27 Issue 4, p349-366, 18p, 1 Diagram, 2 Charts
Williams, J.M.,2010, Applied Sport Psychology, personal growth to peak performance, sixth edition

ABOUT THIS BLOG....

Here I will be covering the subject of Imagery in sports. How useful it is as a tool for the enhancement of athletic performance? How could it be included in the athlete's training program? In addition to other questions that will help us to understand this training technique that can be the key to success for a many athletes.