The Strengths and Limitations of Imagination Technique: Limitations

I'd like to share the limitations of the technique of visualization below.  In fact, it was a little bit difficult to find the limitations because most practitioners or researchers focus on the only merits.  

Limitations

            Whereas there are a lot of researches, theses, and books about the merits of visualization, almost all of them don’t refer to the limitations of visualization.  However, any therapeutic techniques include their limitations and there are no perfect techniques in the world.  Therefore, this report refers to the limitations and reveals mainly four limitations in the technique of visualization.            First, many people tend to misunderstand the role of the technique of visualization.  As Assagioli (1965) pointed out, many people are likely to forget the purpose of psychosyntheis, in a word, integrating or synthesizing various human personalities into the true self (Firman and Gila, 2002) and most people tend to have an intense interest in this technique itself.  Most people, especially new agers, who overestimate human potentials, are likely to use this technique in order only to succeed in his or her life and to obtain super natural powers.
            Therefore, the technique of visualization is often used not to attain the true purpose of psychosyntheis but often used only to satisfy with his or her ego.  Whoever wants to use this technique can apply it very easily to the success in his or her life, but we need to think of the true purpose of this technique before using it.            Second, regarding the negative effect of the technique of visualization in the medical world, when this technique is used in a clinical practice, this technique tends to rely on the imagery ability of patients too much.  As a result, this technique will sometimes have a negative effect on the patients.  For example, when therapists use this technique for a patient who has low self-esteem and tends to visualize negative images, the careful use of this technique is required.  As indicated in the above section of the merit against cancer in this paper, if the patient visualized that his cancer tumors activated more aggressively and his symptom worsened, he could not only cure his cancer but also aggravate his symptom.
            Therefore, therapists need to understand whether the patient is a negative thinker or not before using this technique in the medical field.  Especially, if therapists apply this technique to the patients who suffer from a severe disease such as cancer, the improper use of this technique may lead to his or her death in the worst case.            Third, about dissociation, as Reyher (1978) implies, “Dissociation represents the inability to cognize (understanding via conceptual-verbal vehicles) negative conceptions (personifications) of one’s self and others because of prohibitively aversive dystonia.  Since these require conceptual-verbal vehicles for their comprehension, exclusive use of free imagery would be ineffective” (p. 78).
            Moreover, repression will be followed by dissociation because both of them are likely to arise from negative self-images.  Of course, the technique of visualization is usually used to improve self-esteem, but in the case of repression, this technique can cause a negative effect.
            Thus, when patients suffer from dissociation or repression, therapists should be careful to apply this technique, and need to use other techniques combined with the technique of visualization.      
            Fourth, the technique of visualization has a possibility to create a negative personality and negative unifying center (Firman and Gila, 2002, p. 201).  When a person who has traumatic experiences in his or her life uses this technique, he or she can not release the stored trauma but also re-experience his or her trauma.  That is because as Firman and Gila suggests, we always have both a negative shadow and a positive shadow in our unconsciousness, and this technique sometimes accesses to our lower unconsciousness which includes his or her hidden traumas.
            Therefore, before using this technique, the person who has a severe trauma in his or her lower unconsciousness needs to cure his or her primal wounds first by applying other psychosynthesis techniques.

 Reference:

Reference:

1 Psychosynthesis: A Collection of Basic Writings

2 The Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential with the Mind-Body Connection   [MENTAL EDGE] [Paperback]

3 Psychosynthesis: A Psychology of the Spirit (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)

4 Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life (Gawain, Shakti)

5 The Power of Human Imagination: New Methods in Psychotherapy

6 Healing Images: The Role of Imagination in Health (Imagery and Human Development Series (Unnumbered).)

7 The Elements of Visualization (Elements of ...)

8 The Power of Human Imagination: New Methods in Psychotherapy

9 A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality