Education
Training and certification are available from a variety of schools and institutes. Courses vary in terms of the number of hours required and the types of imagery taught. Some courses are only available to health care professionals holding a licensure in a related field. Currently there are no overall national educational standards.

Official Licensing Bodies
No licensing in imagery is available at this time. Only certification is available which is issued by the various training programs. It is advisable to choose a licensed health care professional, such as a nurse, psychologist, MD, dentist, social worker, and others, to provide this service as they have the training and sensitivity necessary to work on this therapeutic level.

References:
Achterberg, Jeanne. Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine. Boston and London, Shambalha Publications, 1985.

Fanning, Patrick. Visualization for Change. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 1994.

Hatler, Carol W. “Using Guided Imagery in the Emergency Department.” Journal of Emergency Nursing. 24(6):518-522, Dec. 1998.

Sanzero Eller, Lucille. “Guided Imagery Interventions for Symptom Management.” Annual Review of Nursing Research. 17:57-84, 1999.

Spiegel, David and Rhonda Moore. “Imagery and hypnosis in the treatment of cancer patients.” Oncology. 11(8):1179-89, 1997.

Content last modified on Nov 15, 2002