I keep thinking the Nineties were just a few years ago, but no, it’s been almost 30 years since we first started providing guided imagery to VA facilities. And boy, have things changed since then.
We started out with just a couple VAMC’s interested in guided imagery. But the word spread among colleagues, and more and more hospitals got interested and went from ordering cassettes to CDs. Still more got on board when we introduced MP3 downloads and our portable Playaways. (which remain a big hit.)
Nowadays we’ve been building customized streaming pages for specific VA programs, or offering a hyper-relevant collection of guided meditations on our whiz-bang new app, both of which make it unbelievably easy for just about anyone to access all of our guided imagery and meditation audios at any time, from anywhere, on any device that can connect to the internet.
It’s been gratifying and fascinating to see how many VAMCs now offer guided imagery to our Veterans...and to check out which issues and challenges most interest them. In the last couple months alone, we’ve seen orders for:
Scores of CDs (especially our Guided Imagery Mix and Stop Smoking audio) for a VAMC in the South. (Yes, many VAMC’s and Veterans are still fond of using CDs!)
More than 500 Playaways, these are individual hand-held players, pre-loaded with guided imagery for - chronic pain, stress relief, cardiac rehab, and almost a dozen other conditions, for a VAMC in the Midwest.
A branded streaming page for a VAMC in the Pacific Northwest, that plays 24/7 more than a dozen audios for conditions like TBI, chronic pain, depression, insomnia, and drug and alcohol use.
A customized streaming page for a Midwestern Veterans’ support organization that plays full-length audios for posttraumatic stress, anxiety and panic, stress relief, and resisting and preventing viral infection, as well as a bunch of our Take5 quick meditations for relaxation and centering.
Ever since 1993, we’ve been absolutely privileged to help serve those who have served our country. We won’t stop until we’ve helped the VHA make the proven benefits of guided imagery available to every Veteran and family member. If your VAMC hasn’t started to offer it, now is an excellent time to get started – just ask Emily how at [email protected].
P.S. The VA now offers free certificate training in guided imagery. Any interested employee, nationwide can learn to use it for themselves, provide it to others, or refer someone to it.
More info here:
