Monitoring Function: Revealing developments in presenting issue through changes in the mental image over time (30 Meaning Units)

If mental imagery is utilised at the outset of a therapeutic process then returning to that image at a later stage can reveal information regarding the progress of the represented issue. Changes in the original image indicate where and how

developments are occurring. This monitoring is very similar to the diagnostic function in that it is predicated on the understanding that imagery is a consistent and reliable source of accurate information issuing from the subconscious/wider bodymind system. I designated this as a separate category because this function is more

concerned with tracking the image over time. The case vignettes did not demonstrate any deliberate conscious employment of this monitoring function of imagery, instead re-engagement with the original image usually happened naturally as part of the unfolding therapeutic process. Generally, but not in every case, if there were any changes to the original imagery, this was viewed as significant.

In the following case study changes in the image are tracked through the course of the therapy. Here the therapist (Bamber 2004) has a treatment plan for agoraphobia that is based on a theory of dysfunctional inner dynamics between four aspects of the self. One aspect is the detached protector which the client visualises as a black knight:

‘At the commencement of therapy the black knight was very much in control and was not going to give up his power without a fight.’

Halfway through the course of the therapy the client tries to reengage his defences. He is unsuccessful in this attempt and the imagery shows how his old defence mechanism has become weakened:

‘He tried to get back into detached protector mode because his experiences in ‘Defenceless Jimmy’ mode were ‘too painful’, but he found that the ‘Black Knight’ had now fallen off his horse and was unable to get up.’

By end of the therapy the client had overcome this defence mechanism and was no longer trapped in a dysfunctional internal dynamic. This is represented in the final change to the image of the black knight:

77

‘Session 25—‘The Death of the Black Knight’ Jimmy reported that his

detached protector (the ‘Black Knight’) was ‘dead’.’

In the following case study a deep inner integration is indicated by the transformation of the initial imagery at the end of the therapy. Here, the therapist ((Hochman 2007) is using brief image therapy, which is based on Ahsen’s (1968) eidetic work, with a female client who has a fear of going crazy (this somewhat pejorative description is the one used in original case study). Over the course of the therapy the client has been helped to visualise three different aspects of herself in the form of little girls and she was encouraged to interact with them:

‘During subsequent sessions all the figures merged together into one little girl in a frilly dress and who periodically laughed in a somewhat

exaggerated fashion.’

Hochman noted that by the end of the therapy the client’s presenting issue had resolved itself – she was no longer depressed or had a fear of going crazy.

This suggests that the level of integration indicated by the new image was correct.

Although most of the case vignettes revealed this monitoring function operating during the course of short to medium term therapy, there was one example of returning to the same image after a gap of a year. In this case study (Malamud 1973) the therapist employed a guided imagery script featuring a bird in a cage to illuminate the interior dynamic operating between the introjected parent and the child aspect. During the first experience of using this script, the client produced an image of a hostile cage that wanted to destroy the bird inside it. The client realised from this that she had introjected a hostile mother. One year later the imagery has changed:

‘A year later her progress is mirrored in her response to the second cage fantasy. There is a party going on in the room and the bird wants to fly amongst the guests. The cage said it would be better if she stayed because otherwise she will get trampled. The bird flies out and the cage called out that it missed her and asked her to come back. The bird asked the cage if it would let her out when she wanted to. The cage said yes and the bird said it would return because it loved it.’

78 Malamudhelped the clientmakelinks tothe changes in the imagery. She realised that the cage was now her husband who does need her and she feels a bit trapped by that.

Finally, one psychoanalytical case vignette (Levine 2006) gave an example of the monitoring function of imagery where the image indicated deterioration in the presenting issue. In this case, a young man sought analysis for long term anxiety and depression. He had had no career since leaving college and now wanted to earn more money because he and his wife wanted to start a family:

‘His central fantasy was being in a dark shut-off room, alone and frightened. Although there was a potential way out, Fred reported he was so familiar with this place that this discouraged him from wanting to leave.’

The analyst interpreted this as a representation of the client’s self-state which revealed a courage-masochism predicament. A little later in the course of the therapy the client revisits his fantasy and reports a change:

‘A few months on he now said that access to potential exit was not clear. He added that he did not want the analyst to disapprove if he, Fred, decided he did not want to leave this place.’

The imagery would suggest here that the client’s potential for finding his way out of his predicament is decreasing. The analyst does not report any further

investigation of this in the published case study beyond commenting that his client did not have the courage to leave.

III. Reparative Function: Repairing/improving/restructuring dysfunctional