Guided imagery as a treatment intervention for depression

he problem. The study explored the psychotherapeutic effect of guided imagery as a clinical procedure for severe unipolar depression. Several methodological criticisms of previous research conducted on imagistic therapies included (1) use of non-clinical populations or moderately depressed subjects, (2) inadequate measures of depression and alteration of imagery parameters, and (3) a scarcity of research separating the effects of imagery from other aspects of multi-component programs. In particular, the study addressed the first criticism above, since empirical analyses have demonstrated that depression is frequently unresponsive to conventional pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatment modes. Thus, the focus of the study was to examine the effect of guided imagery on unremitted depressive illness.;Method. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare levels of depression, self-esteem, and attributional style. Instrumentation included the Beck Depression Inventory as a screening device, Depression Adjective Check List, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Subjects were screened and those with organic and/or psychotic symptomatology were eliminated. A total of 40 adult male and female outpatients diagnosed with unipolar depression were included in the study. Subjects were administered all tests both before and after the treatment intervention. The experimental group underwent a four-week guided imagery intervention consisting of seven imagistic scenes designed to reduce depression. The control group participated biweekly in a socialization group designed to enhance social functioning through increased social contact.;Results. The results demonstrated that depression was significantly reduced (p...