Imagery Rescripting: Theory and Practice

by Remco van der Wijngaart

Imagery Rescripting, Theory and Practice is a complete manual for practitioners and offers a clear and well-organized introduction to how IR can be applied in the treatment of personality disorders and other problems. Imagery rescripting (IR) is a therapeutic technique that allows problematic events to be retrieved from memory and modified in positive directions. It explores the various ways in which the technique can be utilised – how imagery exercises can provide insight into present problems via events of the past, how the therapist can rescript images in the early stages of treatment, and how clients can learn to rescript images themselves as the therapy progresses. The use of IR to prepare clients for future trigger situations is also discussed. Each step is illustrated with examples from practice, and a number of clinical pitfalls are considered – including clients who cannot create images, clients with a critical attitude, and clients who struggle with feelings of guilt during the rescripting process.

Genres: Psychology

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2021

Reviews

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

I refer to imagery rescripting as the Quentin Tarantino technique. Because basically it asks therapists to do the same thing that the writer/director did in Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — take a traumatic event in your client’s past and through imagery help them to rewrite it with a happier ending. So, for instance, someone who was abused by their parents imaginally goes back in time and stops the abuse, perhaps by having a police officer intervene.

Remco van der Wijngaart covers all the basics of imagery rescripting — outlining the evidence for this technique’s efficacy (several studies justify its use for PTSD, although more research is needed to justify its use as a stand-alone intervention for other disorders), explaining why it works (in short, healing often requires corrective emotional experiences, not just verbal processing), and offering a step-by-step how-to guide filled with interesting case studies. Van der Wijngaart’s writing style is clear and succinct, and although this little book is pretty expensive, it’s worth the price.

[Katrien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heel duidelijk boek over imaginaire rescripting. Duidelijke protocollen maar ook veel casusvoorbeelden en ‘wat als’ uitleg, omdat er nooit iets volgens protocol verloopt. Ik miste alleen echt duiding bij seksueel trauma.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Praktisch en duidelijk boek over imaginaire rescripting.