Treatment Effects of GIM Therapy

Abstract

Thirty individual Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) therapies have been evaluated using the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL–90), The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale. The application of normative Swedish data to the pretreatment SCL–90 ratings produced two distinct subpopulations, a dysfunctional and a functional group. Apart from high symptom scores, the dysfunctional group had a high proportion of psychiatric complaints, whereas the functional group mostly consisted of clients coming for self–actualization, interpersonal problems and crisis reactions. Indications of clinical improvement were found in the movement of six often persons from dysfunctional to functional status according to the SCL–90 scores. The functional group had effect sizes mainly in a low to moderate range. However, in contrast to the dysfunctional group, they showed improvements in subscales of the SCL–90 and IIP that are generally reported to be hard to change through psychotherapy. In the SOC, both functional and dysfunctional groups showed moderate beneficial effects in the Manageability subscale, interpreted as a reflection of increased imagined competence. Keywords: Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), Psychotherapy outcome, Music Therapy, Creative Arts Therapies, Symbolization.