Investigators from the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor examined the effects of using our Healthful Sleep guided imagery on post-cardiac surgery sleep disturbances (problems with sleep quality, time taken to fall asleep and total sleep time) and systemic inflammatory response, as measured by stress hormones and inflammatory markers, including cortisol and C-reactive proteins. These post-surgical difficulties are exacerbated when a patient is put on a bypass machine, and are predictors of post-op morbidity and mortality.
Of the 52 patients who provided informed consent, 27 were randomly assigned to the guided imagery group and 25 to usual care only during the ICU and step-down phases of post-op recovery. Of these, 5 in each group were lost to follow-up.
I have a son, now 26, who suffered a head injury, while skiing, when he was 18. Physically he is fine but emotionally and psychologically he is still struggling. While he has come a long way, it has been, and continues to be, a painful road (suicide attempt, drug addiction) and unfortunately he is not open to going for help. I was thinking of having him listen to your PTSD CD. I thought I would sit with him the first time that he listened to it, for support. He says he is willing to try it. I wonder if you have any other suggestions.
We recently found this posting about one of our favorite kids’ guided imagery recordings, Betty Mehling’s Magic Island. It says it all about the really priceless ways a simple recording can positively impact your child, so we’re just going to let it speak for itself:
We purchased this CD for our eldest daughter 2 years ago. She was having difficulty quieting her active mind at bedtime. At age 7 she began listening to this CD occasionally. Her frequency of listening grew more regular and after about 6 weeks she was listening to the CD nightly.
She has listened to it nightly for almost 2 years now. She is so comforted by the soothing and nurturing imagery of this magical journey in a hot air balloon to the magic island.
Thank you so much for making this wonderful CD available. It has changed her sleep to a more restful and restorative experience in a safe and peaceful manner.
We got this very moving email from a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, who suffered from longstanding blocks to getting a good night’s sleep. It doesn’t always work out so perfectly - that guided imagery can remediate this so quickly. But it happens often enough – quite a lot, in fact - and it’s always wonderful to hear about it.
It’s very encouraging to know that sometimes a good night’s sleep can make everything else seem possible; and that guided imagery has a very good chance at making that happen – without drugs and with very little effort: just what it takes to press “PLAY”.
How can you say thank you to someone you have never met? How can you show gratitude for being given back something so intangible that its value is priceless?
Let me explain. This past Tuesday Jan 29 I saw my psychologist for the first time. I am working through abuse of all kinds, the worst being sexual abuse and rape that I suffered though growing up.
Researchers from the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University Medical Center performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) as a treatment for nightmares, general sleep disturbance, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Bibliographic databases and cited references were searched to identify clinical trials of imagery rehearsal in individuals with post-trauma nightmares.
Thirteen studies met inclusion criteria and reported sleep and post-traumatic stress outcomes in sufficient detail to calculate effect sizes.
I have always had problems with falling asleep, but lately my stress at work was making it worse. Between taking forever to fall asleep and waking up too early, I was severely sleep deprived.
I placed my cd player next to my bed and alternated playing the Sleep Imagery and Steve Kohn’s music. I usually fall asleep before the tape ends. I sleep soundly. I wake up rested. I find this a surprising and happy discovery.
I’ve grown to very much enjoy listening to these types of tapes. It is a pleasing way to fall asleep and wake up feeling well.
From what we can tell from sales here at Health Journeys, there’s an epidemic of sleep problems going on in this country – problems with falling asleep, staying asleep, getting deep, refreshing, quality sleep, falling back to sleep after waking up, and dealing with nightmares that interrupt sleep – all of it.
For years, Weight Loss was far and away our most popular title. In fact, that one audio program sold so well, it helped underwrite a whole range of other titles needed by a much smaller, more targeted audience. These were topics we otherwise couldn’t have afforded to produce.
But nowadays, even though our weight loss imagery is still very popular, our Healthful Sleep program has been outselling it handily for at least the past 5 years. America may still be obsessed by weight, but it’s evidently on its knees from insomnia.
I've been listening to both of Traci’s CDs for about a month now and they have been incredibly helpful. I have been trying to recover from a painful breakup that left me sleepless and questioning my self-worth.
I knew I would enjoy the "Healthy Self-Esteem" CD for the positive imagery and reminders of my worth and it did not disappoint. I especially appreciated that I was able to use the affirmations and short-imagery whenever I needed a boost of confidence.
The "Self-Esteem During Sleep" CD far exceeded my expectations. I was having a lot of trouble falling asleep and would often be woken up from disturbing dreams. After using the sleep CD I'm able to look forward to going to bed each night instead of dreading the struggle of trying to have a peaceful night's sleep. Maybe even more important is the feeling I have when I wake up in the mornings--quietly confident and calm. I'm so thankful for these CDs.
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, examined whether cognitive behavioral therapy could be offered in a self-help book format, with or without minimal phone support from a therapist, to remediate insomnia.
The study used a volunteer sample of 133 media-recruited adults with a history of insomnia. The mean history of sleep difficulties in this sample was 11.8 years. Ninety-two percent had co-morbid problems (e.g. allergy, pain, and depression).
The intervention consisted of six weeks of bibliotherapeutic self-help using established cognitive behavioral methods, including sleep restriction, stimulus control, and cognitive restructuring.
I have a friend in hospice care (heart probs) - sadly young at 59 who has decided not to opt for a heart transplant but is still not ready to let go. Is there a CD you could recommend to help him relax and fear less? I think the hospice one is too final... he's not there yet... but he will benefit from that one eventually. Right now he has trouble falling asleep b/c he's afraid he won't wake up - something for general relaxation?
