Abstract
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) can be considered a specialism in which qualified music therapists may train, along with mental health practitioners from other professional backgrounds including psychotherapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. For this latter group of practitioners, identifying themselves as music therapists, or implying this when describing GIM as a music therapy method in advertising their services, is controversial. It may indeed even be unlawful in countries where music therapy training and practice are regulated by the state.
 The situation is a complex and inherently confusing one. This is because on the one hand GIM is an acknowledged international model of music therapy. On the other hand, as a specialism, GIM is distinct from music therapy in both training and practice, with GIM practitioners having various professional backgrounds.
 It is proposed that international collaboration and discussion are needed, with recommendations made to foster public confidence based on a clear understanding of who is and is not a qualified music therapist and member of the music therapy profession, and who is qualified to practice what safely and effectively. The article aims to illuminate the issues that may need to be taken into consideration in developing a consensus position.
Highlights
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) was cited at the Ninth World Congress of Music Therapy as one of “Five International Models of Music Therapy Practice” (Wheeler et al, 2012)
Whilst it might be assumed that all those who are trained in and practice GIM can legitimately claim that they are music therapists practicing a type of receptive music therapy, the matter is not an entirely straight forward one
There is no international recognition that those trained in the Bonny Method and its variations (Muller, 2014) become qualified music therapists based on their GIM training alone
Summary
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) was cited at the Ninth World Congress of Music Therapy as one of “Five International Models of Music Therapy Practice” (Wheeler et al, 2012). The term GIM, as an abbreviation of Guided Imagery and Music, is used generically (Bruscia, 2015) to encompass the full spectrum of practice developed by those trained in the Bonny Method of GIM. Therapists may integrate elements of the different methods in which they have been trained, for instance Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) and GIM, or music therapy improvisation and GIM Another factor is that separate training in MI is increasingly available, with the EAMI developing training standards for this (European Association for Music and Imagery, 2021a; Frohne-Hagemann, 2021). The competencies required for safe and effective practice in the Bonny Method of GIM (and with other GIM and MI methods), can be clarified as they relate to the different phases of a therapy session, each phase having its associated knowledge and skill set. The therapist needs to have a sophisticated, experience-based understanding of imagery processes and associated with this of therapeutic change
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