Academy for Guided Imagery

The Academy for Guided Imagery (AGI) is dedicated to educating and supporting practicing health care clinicians, coaches, and educators in their uses of imagery and imagery related approaches to therapy and healing. The Academy is a post-graduate training provider for health professionals, and a source of self-care products and programs for those struggling with a chronic, difficult, or painful illness. It is the culmination of 30 years of clinical research, practice and exploration into the use of the human imagination in the healing process.

The Academy was formed in California in 1989 by the professional working partnership of David E. Bresler, PhD, LAc, a health psychologist and acupuncturist, and Martin L. Rossman, M.D., a medical doctor.

AGI provides the nation's only comprehensive, integrated curriculum for teaching Interactive Guided Imagery(sm) skills. IGI(sm) is a clinical approach which uses imagery in a highly interactive way to evoke the patient's own inner resources - insights, creativity, physiologic healing states, and good decision-making.

IGI(sm) incorporates innovative principles and techniques from conventional and Ericksonian hypnosis, Neurolinguistic Programming, psychosynthesis, and Jungian active imagination, and adds a unique interactive component that enhances the patient’s own ability to participate in their health and healing, and transforms the therapeutic relationship into one of supportive collaboration and successful self-actualization.

The Academy’s professional courses are accredited by the American Psychological Association, the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, the National Association of Social Workers, the California Alcoholism and Drug Counselors Education Program, and the California Board of Registered Nursing, among others. The Academy has taught over 15,000 psychologists, physicians, social workers, family counselors, nurses, health educators, pastoral counselors, and other health professionals in its workshops around the world.  

The Academy holds an annual convention each year to celebrate the graduation of our Professional Certification students, and to offer special presentations on such issues as the mind/body connection, addictions, cancer treatment, pain control, heart disease and emotional and spiritual healing (see 20th Annual Conference). Since 1989, many of the leading authorities in mind/body medicine have shared their approaches with members of the Academy community including such pioneers as Andrew Weil, MD, Dean Ornish, MD, David Sobel, MD, O. Carl Simonton, MD, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, PhD Jeanne Achterberg, PhD, Larry Dossey, MD, Joan Borysenko, PhD, Emmett Miller, MD, Stan Grof, MD, Ernie Rossi, PhD, Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, and Candace Pert, PhD.

Member's of the Academy's staff and faculty also also serve as consultants to major health care and business organizations in matters relating to employee health, stress reduction and time management, executive development, team-building and leadership training, creativity development, and related issues.