Methods of imagotherapy in providing help in extreme situations

The contribution is dedicated to methods of imagotherapy. It explains the nature of imagotherapy as a variant of the method of symbolic self-expression, which views imagination images which appear in the process of a specifically organized interaction between the client and the psychologist as a peculiar symbolic language and this very interaction – as a means of providing psychological help to the client through his contact with these images. The author emphasizes that methods of imagotherapy are based on K.G. Jung’s ideas on possibilities of using active imagination which were developed in works of H. Leuner, R. Desoille, J. Hillman, M. Rossman et al. The author also examines the main ideas which constitute the basis of imagotherapy. As a conclusion the author notes that methods of imagotherapy may be an effective instrument in providing psychological help in extreme situations. An emphasis is made on the fact that fairy tale imagotherapy, which uses symbolic resources of fairy tales, is an important trend in this type of psychological help.

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