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Imagery
Imagery is both a mental process (as in imagining) and a wide variety of other procedures used in therapy to encourage changes in attitudes,
behavior, or physiological reactions. As a mental process, if is often defined as "any thought presenting a sensory quality." It includes, as well as the visual,
all the senses -aural, tactile, olfactory, proprioceptive, and kinesthetic.
Uses/Research Base: Imagery has
been successfully tested as a strategy for alleviating nausea and vomiting
associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients, to relieve stress, and to
facilitate weight gain in cancer patients. It has been successfully used
and tested for pain control in a variety of settings; as adjunctive
therapy for several diseases, including diabetes; and with geriatric
patients to enhance immunity. Imagery is usually combined with other
behavioral approaches. It is best known in the treatment of cancer as a
means to help patients mobilize their immune systems, but it is also used
as part of a multidisciplinary approach to cardiac rehabilitation and in
many settings that specialize in treating chronic pain.
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