Mental imagery refers to the mental simulation or recreation of perceptual experience across different sensory modalities. The exploration of mental imagery represents a new and important area within clinical psychology, but arguably one still in its infancy. While mental imagery has featured prominently in recent theoretical accounts of disorders as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis, there remains an insufficiently strong theoretical and methodological foundation to enable comparison of the role of imagery across such different disorders. The current research topic presents a diverse range of cutting-edge papers focusing on investigating the underlying mechanisms and/or treatment interventions associated with mental imagery in clinical disorders, with the goal of helping establish those common elements most clinically relevant when investigating mental imagery. The research topic comprises fifteen articles drawn from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience. This is a unique collection of articles that combine different perspectives from the field of clinical psychology with more diverse perspectives drawn from the wider literature on mental imagery. The original research studies and theoretical articles presented are organised around four main chapters that cover imagery and eye movements, imagery and craving, imagery and autobiographical memory, and imagery and clinical disorders. We believe that the range of submissions presented in the research topic make a strong contribution to helping establish a theoretical and methodological foundation that can enable the effective study of imagery across different disorders and domains.

Aimed at an interdisciplinary audience (philosophy, psychology and neuroscience), this book is about mental imagery and the important work it does in our mental life. Mental imagery plays a crucial role in the vast majority of our perceptual episodes; but also plays an important role in emotions, action execution and even in our desires.

People with bipolar disorder are particularly vulnerable to anxiety and intrusive mental imagery, which can contribute to mood swings and a heightened risk for relapse. This book presents a novel brief treatment that focuses on working with mental images to reduce distress and enhance mood stability. Grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the book provides therapists with tested techniques for formulating individualized treatment targets, using metacognitive strategies to reduce the power of images, rescripting problematic images, and building adaptive positive images. User-friendly instructions for assessment and intervention include case examples, sample scripts, and troubleshooting tips. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, the book includes 19 reproducible handouts and session agendas. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

Thinking Visually documents the many ways pictures, visual images, and spatial metaphors influence our thinking. The book discusses recent empirical, theoretical, and applied contributions that support the view that visual thinking occurs not only where we expect to find it, but also where we do not. Much of comprehending language, for instance, depends on visual simulations of words or on spatial metaphors that provide a foundation for conceptual understanding. This edition has been fully updated throughout and features new coverage of a range of topical and fascinating areas of research, including aesthetics, visual narratives, communicating health risks, dreams, clinical imagery, mathematical games, and the influence of action on perception. It also features a new chapter on Mixed Reality to showcase the many exciting developments in this area. The broad coverage, colorful figures, and research discoveries provide a solid foundation for understanding visual thinking across a wide spectrum of activities. It will be an essential read for all students and researchers interested in Visual Thinking.

The primary aim of this book is to bridge the gap between lab-based and clinical research by disseminating the latest interdisciplinary scientific findings on interpretational processing biases in the context of emotional psychopathology. It is designed to help the practitioner by drawing explicit links between the basic science and implications for clinical practice. This enables an enhanced interaction between science and practice, strengthening bi-directional translational links, and the potential to produce more meaningful and significant advances in the treatment of emotional psychopathology. This in turn will facilitate an innovative step-change in the area of both research and clinical practice. The book focuses on cognitive processing biases that are common across a wide range of psychological disorders, meaning that the conclusions drawn have relevance across the whole spectrum of psychopathology and will stimulate and inspire a broad range of discussions and future work. From the foreword by Nikolaos Kazantzis: "The practice of CBT is complex and requires a tailored approach. Every technique has a specific target but may be used for multiple purposes simultaneously in support of the client’s therapeutic goals. The purpose of Dr. Woud’s book is to elucidate the ways in which interpretational biases can be a focus of intervention for CBT therapists at all stages of professional development, from those undertaking training to master clinicians. Dr. Woud has succeeded admirably in this regard."

"The treatment in this book helps to ease the suffering of people with social anxiety disorder by helping them to abandon the psychological factors that maintain their constant expectation of social catastrophe, while allowing them to retain the wonderful personal qualities they have that facilitate genuine and fulfilling relationships. Cognitive behavior therapy has been shown to be very helpful for SAD over many research trials with severe and complex clients. Imagery-based CBT "enhances" traditional approaches by emphasizing the benefits of facilitating cognitive and emotional change via the imagery mode. Multisensory imagery is highly emotionally evocative. Clients are encouraged to incorporate vivid, multisensory imagery into every aspect of the treatment in this book"--

Imagery and the Threatened Self considers the role that images of the self play in a number of common mental health problems and how these images can be used to help sufferers to recover from mental health problems.

The domain of neuroscience has had one of the most explosive growths in recent decades: within this development there has been a remarkable and renewed interest in the study of the relations between behaviour and the central nervous system. Part of this new attention is connected with the contribution of new technologies (PET, fMRI) permitting more precise mapping of neural structures responsible for cognitive functions and the development of new theoretical models of mental activities. The diffusion of new pathologies (for example the pattern of cognitive impairment associated with AIDS) has further enlarged the field of clinical neuropsychology. Finally there has been an expanding clinical interest in the understanding and management of age-related cognitive changes. This volume is the translated and updated version of the second edition of Manuale di Neuropsicologia (Zanichelli, 1996), by the same authors, and it reflects the current status of the art. It is intended to blend clinical and theoretical aspects of neuropsychology. The first part discusses the instrumental and clinical methods of investigation in neuropsychology, together with their development. A long section is dedicated to the language and memory disorders. The impairment of non-verbal cognitve functions, such as the disorders of space orientation, of of visuo-perceptive abilities, and of the emotions and attention, are extensively discussed. The pattern of degenerative dementias is thorougly described, as e is thoroughly described, as well as a number of new topics, such as a neuropsychological approach to consciousness. Finally, perspectives for treatment of some cognitive disorders are outlined.

Inner Speech focuses on a familiar and yet mysterious element of our daily lives. In light of renewed interest in the general connections between thought, language, and consciousness, this anthology develops a number of important new theories about internal voices and raises questions about their nature and cognitive functions.