The Bonny method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) in Europe

Abstract

The Bonny method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) was developed in the United States of America (USA) in the 1970s and came to Europe in the 1990s. It is a truly international model of receptive music therapy, practised in five continents, and yet it is not registered or integrated in the European music therapy community, e.g. as related to the European Music Therapy Confederation (EMTC). This apparent paradox is addressed in the article which gives a short historical overview of the development of GIM in Europe, followed by a status – an overview of current GIM trainings and practitioners in European countries – and a discussion of core issues related to the organisation of GIM in Europe and to standards of training and clinical practice. From 2014, GIM in Europe has founded its own association (the European Association of Music and Imagery, EAMI), and the question of the relationship between EAMI and EMTC is now open.