MS Patient Develops Guided Imagery Program

Treatments for MS that fall outside of conventional medicine are often considered complementary or alternative therapies. Guided imagery is an integrative mind-body therapy that has demonstrated the ability to reduce pain, stress, anxiety, and depression in patients dealing with a variety of disorders. While patients look to integrative medicine to help improve their lives, it is important that research is conducted to demonstrate the benefit of specific interventions, especially those used within the MS communities.

Paula Marie Jackson, diagnosed with MS in 1999, is a certified hypnotherapist who has developed a novel guided imagery protocol for MS patients she calls Healing Light Guided Imagery (HLGI). Ms. Jackson collaborated with researchers from the MS Center at University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the Center of Excellence for Research in Training in Integrative Health to conduct a small self-funded pilot study comparing the effects of HLGI and those of journaling on quality of life, fatigue, and depressed mood in 11 MS patients.

What is Healing Light Guided Imagery (HLGI) and how does it differ from other forms of guided imagery, meditation, or hypnosis?

PMJ: Healing Light Guided Imagery (HLGI) is a hybrid therapy combining meditation, mindfulness, and light hypnosis that I began to develop during my own MS diagnosis. As I trained, practiced, and worked to improve this hybrid technique, I found an optimal framework that worked wonders with most of my symptoms and was effective in helping others living with MS. The researchers at UCSD have been referring to it as an Integrated Mindfulness technique that is a simpler version of mindfulness which is easier to learn in a relatively shorter period of time.

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MS Patient Designs Novel Guided Imagery Program