Self-Healing Through Imagination: Psychogenic Healing with Medical Hypnosis in Mind-Body Medicine - Gary Bruno Schmid

This book is dedicated to the role of imagination as a means of healing. The author—a theoretical physicist, depth psychologist, psychotherapist and medical hypnotherapist—has compiled and critically evaluated the scientific literature on psychogenic healing in mind-body medicine (MBM), expanding it with new data and insights based on decades of experience. The spectrum covered ranges from simple relaxation to psychoneuroimmunology and to self-healing through imagination. Since psychoneuroimmunology—an evidence-based foundation for psychogenic responses of the human organism, such as relaxation, the placebo/nocebo effect, or medical hypnosis—rarely makes explicit reference to imagination, the author introduces the concept of consciousness medicine as an umbrella term for mind-body medicine.

He explains the psychoneuroimmunological connections of imagination and develops a simple, generic six-dramatic-elements method for the practical application of medical hypnosis using metaphors for self-healing. His concept is illustrated through concrete examples from clinical practice. The guiding principle of his findings can be summarized as follows: “All healing is ultimately self-healing, and imagination can optimize this process.”