Curriculum

Professional GIM Trainings

The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) offers career training for professionals in a variety of counseling professions, human services and related fields. BMGIM is an innovative therapy, which explores consciousness through the lens of music, the “medicine of the future”. The training curriculum spans three sequential levels of training, each one building upon the other. At the successful completion of Level III the graduate becomes a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery and is qualified to practice BMGIM as a specialist in a variety of settings.

All levels of training are didactic, experiential and interactive. The courses utilize multisensory and direct experience in dyads and groups. The full training may take at least two years, which includes practicum and supervision requirements.

The trainings are bilingual, international and are offered in residential and/or university settings.

Accreditation

Our professional training is endorsed through the Association of Music and Imagery (AMI).  Graduates are awarded the designation of Fellow of the Association of Music and Imagery*, or F.A.M.I.

A certificate of completion of contact hours is provided to be used for professional development credentials.

*Graduates must also have certification to practice as a therapist in their native countries.

Training Curriculum

Level I: Foundational Concepts of BMGIM

Recommended Pre-requisites:  An individual GIM session and/or introductory workshop (see link to faculty and programs for more information).

Level I is a 36 hour intensive residential training.  It is the foundation for the entire training program and can be taken either for personal or professional development.

Content includes:

  • Historical, theoretical and philosophical perspectives
  • Roles of the guide and traveler
  • Introduction to early guiding techniques
  • Level I music programs
  • How music functions as co-therapist
  • Imagery processes and non-ordinary states
  • Applications of BMGIM
  • Ethics

Level II: Core Development of Skills

Acceptance by application and other pre-requisites, including readings, sessions, and music project.

Level II is a 56 hour intensive residential training with an emphasis on the development of guiding skills and the professional use of GIM music programs.  This level is considered a cornerstone in the development of becoming a skilled guide. There are opportunities for in depth personal exploration, and group processing sessions.

Content includes:

  • The art and skill of guiding interventions
  • Set up of a session and defining an intention for the journey
  • Assessing the traveler ‘s style of connecting with inner states
  • Introduction to physical interventions
  • Levels of imagery experiences
  • Working with expanded mind states
  • Advanced music programs and how to develop proficiency in working with the psychodynamic influence of music as the co-therapist
  • Post-session processing of the session
  • Application to a group format
  • Ethics of working in non-ordinary states

An overview of Level III requirements is reviewed at the conclusion of Level II outlining the content, topics, and requirements for completion. An application for Level III is required prior to acceptance. For more information, please contact us.

Level III: Advanced Clinical Training in BMGIM

Application and session pre-requisites are required for acceptance into Level III. Level III  prepares the student for a professional and clinical practice of GIM as a therapeutic specialty. Students will attend six residential modules spanning a period of two years. In addition, personal sessions, practice sessions, supervision, readings, music program analysis and a final project is required. Each student will be assigned a trainer/mentor who will advise and give ongoing support throughout the program. Level III may be considered an advanced practicum with each module building upon the other in the learning sequence culminating in a readiness to professionally practice GIM in the clinical setting with individuals and groups.

Module I Advanced Clinical Practice

This is a 36 hour module intensive residential training which focuses on the practice of GIM with specific client populations and the use of advanced music programs designed for those populations.

  • The therapy session, history, setting the intention, and processing
  • Advanced skills in working with different clinical populations
  • Recognizing psychopathology
  • Advanced guiding skills related to clinical populations
  • Assessing resistances
  • Advanced music programs for clinical populations
  • Psychodynamics of music used in BMGIM
  • Creative processing techniques, including introduction to mandalas
  • Contraindications for GIM
  • Ethics and standards of practice

Module II: Myth and Archetype

This is a 36 hour intensive residential training module which focuses on the practice of GIM through the lens of the mythic and archetypal realms of consciousness. The symbolic and archetypal dimension of music is presented as a companion to the archetypal psychology of C.G. Jung, Joseph Campbell, Carol Pearson and shamanic wisdom traditions.

Content Includes:

  • Archetypal imagery in GIM, relating sessions to personal myths
  • Review of advanced clinical techniques
  • Music for archetypal journeys
  • Individuation and the process of growth toward the authentic self
  • Overview of archetypal symbology
  • Mask making and Ritual

Module III: GIM and Transpersonal Consciousness

This is a 36 hour intensive residential module which explores expanded states of awareness as it relates to GIM and the unique potential of music as an expression of transpersonal realms.

Content includes:

  • Transpersonal theories of Jung, Wilber, Grof and others
  • Transpersonal and spiritual dimensions of being
  • Music in the expanded state
  • The mystical and the sacred
  • Healing and GIM
  • Rites of passage
  • Ceremony
  • Ethics and contraindications of Transpersonal states

Module IV: Music and the Psyche

This is a 24 hour intensive residential training module that provides an in-depth exploration of the unique function of music as the central focus in BMGIM. Emphasis is placed on establishing a deeper relationship with music in all its aspects. An overview of the music programs for clinical use and their power to harmonize the contents of the psyche will be considered in depth. The module also includes two skill labs to become proficient in working more closely with music as ones therapeutic partner in the clinical setting. Practice in groups with music, project requirements is also included.

Content includes:

  • The power of music as a homeopathic response for healing
  • The development of conscious listening
  • Music as a mirror of the contents of the psyche
  • Using music interventions in guiding
  • Fundamental elements of the language of music
  • Musical vocabulary, styles and periods, orchestral instruments
  • Assessment of choice of music programs with client intentions
  • Transference issues in music
  • Guidelines and practice in music program project

Modules V and VI: Supervision I and II

These 18 hour intensive training modules are designed to develop advanced proficiency in guiding skills. Direct observation and supervisory feedback is provided to students for their evolving competence as a GIM guide.

Content includes:

  • Skill development in pre-session interview
  • Matching intention to music choice
  • Additional music programs
  • Evaluation of guiding interventions
  • Evaluation of physical interventions
  • Post session processing and report writing

Graduation

This is a residential weekend and culmination event for the completion of the Level III Training.

Content includes:

  • Student presentation of case studies or research
  • Design of Rituals
  • Graduation ceremony

Post-Graduate Module offerings:

GIM and the Bodymind Connection

This is an adaptation of GIM for exploring physical symptoms and health issues by accessing the wisdom of ones intuition for healing protocols. Specialized music will be contrasted and compared with clinical GIM music programs.

Contents include:

  • GIM for the Inner Healing Journey
  • How to decode the metaphoric language of the bodymind
  • Learning gestalt dialogue processes developed specifically for GIM
  • Tapping the intuition to make informed decisions regarding healing protocols
  • Learning specialized music programs for the bodymind connection

GIM and Body/Breath

This is an intensive training in using a hybrid which combines GIM and Grof  Holotropic Breath Work.

Contents include:

  • Review of working with intense emotional states
  • Review of Physical Interventions
  • Two dyads as guide and two as traveler
  • Working with very early developmental states, often non-verbal
  • Working with a range of Transpersonal states
  • Introduction to new music

Supervisor in Training (S.I.T.)

This intensive residential course prepares the BMGIM Fellow to serve as supervisor for other students in training programs. It offers “on the job” coaching from trainers during an actual Level III Supervision module:

Contents include:

  • Developing  skills sets to be able to serve as a GIM supervisor
  • Assessment and Evaluation of Level III students
  • Skills in critique and feedback for Level III students
  • Gaining proficiency in the role of mentoring students

“Participating in GIM through Sierra and Carol’s institute has brought me into communication with my deeper knowing and wisdom and that has made ALL the difference.”
In gratitude, Barb Davis, LPC, FAMI, Primary Trainer

"The depth of the training, is both profound on a personal level and astoundingly effective on a professional one. I feel most fortunate to have learned this method from the Atlantis Institute."
Diane Davis, GIM Therapist