Healing Images

Ever since the Simontons' pioneering work, the role of mind either to help or hinder recovery from physical illness has become increasingly clear. In spite of this, however, such an idea has far to go before becoming fully integrated into mainstream medical practice – or indeed into common understanding. Dr Sheikh's book should become a milestone on the way towards this goal.

As a comprehensive attempt to reflect the current state of knowledge concerning the role of imagination in health, it spans the whole spectrum from physiological mechanisms to spiritual development. After a foreword by the Dalai Lama, the 22 chapters are written by acknowledged experts, covering theory, research and clinical applications. The chapter on historical perspectives brings out the role of imagery in all ancient cultures, including shamanic, monotheist and Hindu/Buddhist, and leads on to modern ideas stemming from depth psychology. The evidence for physiological effects of imagery, drawn from a wide range of experiments, including meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback, should leave us in no doubt about the essential unity of mind and body. There remains nevertheless the question of mechanism: how could images heal anything? Since this raises the mind/matter conundrum, it is tackled by Max Velmans from his own illuminating philosophical viewpoint, which reveals the limitations in the very idea of mechanism.

The clinical applications include pain, smoking, sex therapy, depression, cancer, and several others. Notable in most of these is that, far from being mere recipes, they give full weight to the numinous nature of imagery (which, to be effective, must be more than merely visualisation, and need not be visual at all) and the need to engage deep aspects of the self. Very welcome is the inclusion of chapters which go beyond the healing of physical or psychological afflictions to consider imagery in intuition, spiritual development and confronting death. While being no less scientific than the rest, these represent a departure from the conception of visualisation as a medical procedure.

This book has been described by Rachel Naomi Remen as: "...a scientifically impeccable and deeply poetic invitation to reown our innate power". It should be read by all who hope to heal themselves and others.