COLUMBUS, Miss. – Elizabeth Haley, assistant professor of music therapy at Mississippi University for Women, will travel to Montreal, QC, Canada, to present at the international conference of the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI).
She will present “The Bonny Method and Psychiatric Disorders: An Updated Look,” discussing her work using the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) with patients at a state psychiatric hospital. As a member of the AMI Ethics Committee, she also will present “The Use of Videoconferencing in GIM Sessions” during the committee’s ethics panel presentation.
Haley said, “The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music is an experiential therapy in which the client listens to a particular program of music (selected by the practitioner) in a relaxed state. While listening to the music, images are spontaneously evoked which promote the development of insights into unconscious conflicts, solutions to problems and healing past wounds.
“The Bonny Method is provided by a trained practitioner who provides nondirective support and witness to the client throughout the experience with the intention of helping them maintain presence and integrate the images that emerge.”
She added that videoconferencing in sessions is currently a controversial topic within the healthcare field in general. “Within the GIM profession there are specific ethical dilemmas regarding not being physically present while the client is in a relaxed state of non-ordinary consciousness. The AMI Ethics Committee (of which I am a member) is intending to provide a set of ethical guidelines for those practitioners who choose to incorporate videoconferencing sessions into their practice without endorsing or condemning the practice.”
AMI is an international organization, and Haley is the only GIM practitioner in Mississippi. AMI is a growing association whose highest concentrations of American members are typically in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.
“Being the only practitioner in Mississippi creates a wonderful opportunity for me to begin expanding the association and providing a new form of therapy to people here,” she said.
The New Hope resident is beginning her doctoral studies at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., where she plans to earn a doctorate in expressive therapies. She earned a master of science in music therapy from Radford University in Radford, Va., and bachelor of science in music therapy and a bachelor of arts in psychology from State University of New York at Fredonia.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2017
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.