What is Guided Imagery And Music?
Guided Imagery and Music is a model of music therapy developed by Dr. Helen Bonny in the 1960-1970’s. The first definition of GIM was published in 1986 by Clark and Keiser: “Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is a method of self-exploration in which classical music is used to access the imagination. It includes listening to classical music in a relaxed state, allowing the imagination to come to conscious awareness and sharing these awareness’s with a guide.” More comprehensively, Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), developed by Helen Bonny in the 1970s, is a receptive music therapy method that integrates structured classical music listening with guided imagery to support psychological exploration and transformation.
In practice, GIM is a one-on-one therapeutic encounter lasting up to two hours in which a trained guide facilitates a client’s journey into an expanded state of consciousness using specially sequenced classical music. The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is a music-centered depth approach to transformational therapy that uses selected sequences of classical music to support the generation of and movement through inner experiences. In GIM, the music serves as a catalyst and container for imagery that allows one to access and explore both the depths and the heights of the human experience. The method differs fundamentally from simple relaxation or meditation: Music’s role is primary. We call music our co-therapist because of its importance.
Origins & lineage
Helen Lindquist Bonny (1921 – May 25, 2010) was a music therapist who developed “Guided Imagery and Music” often referred to as “GIM”. The method emerged from her work at a specific historical juncture. GIM originated in the early 1970s during the psychedelic trials that were undertaken through funding from the National Institute of Mental Health at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. Helen Bonny, founder of GIM and an accomplished classical musician and music therapist, created playlists of classical music to accompany the psychedelic trials and research that took place at the time. Bonny’s colleagues at the Centre included Stanislav Grof and Joan Kellogg.
On the 21st September 1948, Helen Bonny — a 27-year-old American housewife and mother with a degree in violin performance — was asked to play at a church women’s meeting. She played The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns. This mystical experience while playing violin became the seed for her later work. Helen Bonny developed the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) from 1972 to 1979. The first program, ‘Positive Affect,’ was introduced in 1972 at the American Humanistic Psychology meeting. Training and dissemination of the materials became the next phase of development and Helen Bonny set up the Institute of Consciousness and Music (ICM) in 1973.
Although Guided Imagery and Music draws from various schools of psychology, Helen Bonny has cited its main influences as the humanistic and the transpersonal psychology of Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow. Bonny was also profoundly influenced by the work of Carl Jung. In 1986, the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI ) set minimum standards for training and endorsing training programs.
How it’s practiced
The typical GIM session begins with a preliminary conversation during which the therapist assesses the mood and energy level of the client and selects the music program for the session. The client then reclines as the therapist offers suggestions for relaxing the body and focusing the mind in preparation for the music. In a session lasting up to two hours, you and your therapist discuss your current life situation, set goals for your work together, and establish a focus for the session. After a guided relaxation, you then listen to music selected by the therapist to address the themes that arose. You verbalize the images, feelings, sensations, memories, and any awareness evoked by the music, allowing them to become a vehicle for exploring deeper states of consciousness.
Crucially, once the music begins the therapist does not make suggestions as is typical in other forms of imagery with music. Instead, the client takes the therapist along on his/her journey by describing the experience as it unfolds. The therapist remains actively present throughout, providing verbal support to help deepen and integrate the experience.
A full program from three to as many as six selections may last from 20-35 minutes in length. Or the music program may be of one selection lasting only a few minutes. Helen Bonny designed eighteen music programmes and they have been added to by a number of world renowned Bonny Method GIM specialists. Program titles include “Peak Experience,” “Positive Affect,” “Death/Rebirth,” “Nurturing,” and “Relationships,” though these names are suggestive rather than prescriptive of specific outcomes.
Guided Imagery And Music today
The Method of Guided Imagery and Music is now taught to therapists and practiced on every inhabited continent on the Earth. Training in the Bonny Method is completed in three levels, over at least three years. While each training program has its own approach, all programs lead a trainee to become a Fellow by the Association for Music and Imagery. Currently, there are nineteen, internationally located, AMI endorsed training programs: nine are in America, one is in Australia, one is in Canada, and eight are in Europe.
Practitioners work in diverse clinical settings. The clinical settings for BMGIM include hospital settings (surgical and palliative care units), schools, nursing homes, prisons, work places, and counseling clinics. Evidence also indicates positive outcomes of GIM therapy for people living with depression, breast cancer, and other medical conditions. The method has been used with individuals seeking support for anxiety, trauma, grief, life transitions, and personal growth, as well as in adapted forms for children, adolescents, and groups.
Common misconceptions
GIM is not simple relaxation or meditation with background music. While relaxation is a component, the method aims at psychological depth work and transformation rather than stress reduction. Unlike passive listening experiences or guided visualizations common in wellness settings, GIM involves active dialogue with a trained therapist throughout the music, and the client reports their unfolding experience in real time rather than following prescribed imagery.
GIM is also not hypnosis. The client remains in an alert, expanded state of consciousness—what practitioners call a “relaxed but aware” state—and maintains agency throughout the session. It differs from both psychedelic therapy (though it shares historical roots) and from typical talk therapy, operating instead in the symbolic, imaginal realm accessed through music.
The classical music used is not arbitrary or interchangeable with other genres. The three year training which is required to professionally use the Bonny Method of GIM is largely spent in coming to know music, especially classical music. How to use music as the opener to altered states of consciousness; what elements in music evoke emotional responses, suggest imagery sequences, how the various tapestries of music suit personality types. The specific structural, harmonic, and emotional qualities of Western classical music are considered essential to the method’s therapeutic mechanisms.
How to begin
Those interested in experiencing GIM should seek a trained practitioner registered with the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI) as a Fellow (FAMI) or through regional organizations like the European Association for Music and Imagery (EAMI). The AMI maintains a practitioner directory. Many practitioners offer introductory sessions or workshops before committing to ongoing therapeutic work.
For professionals interested in training, Level I training (typically 36-40 hours) introduces the foundational concepts and can serve both personal development and as a prerequisite for clinical training. Full professional qualification requires completion of all three levels plus extensive supervised clinical practice. Prerequisites for training typically include a background in music therapy, counseling, or related therapeutic disciplines.
Key texts include Helen Bonny’s collected writings in Music & Consciousness: The Evolution of Guided Imagery and Music, edited by Lisa Summer, and Kenneth Bruscia’s work on GIM theory and practice. The Discography of Guided Imagery and Music Programs (Bruscia) catalogs the standard music programs used in practice.