Resources

Australian GIM research and publications 2015-2025

Interpretivist research and journal articles:

Clark, I. N., & Murphy, M. (2025). Graduate music therapists’ experiences of using the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music as a form of supervision: A creative process for exploring work-based issues, professional identity, and personal wellbeing. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 1-16. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08098131.2025.2488757
Grocke, D., & McFerran, K. (2024). Perceptions of GIM therapists transitioning from in-person GIM sessions to online platforms during Covid-19 restriction. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy. https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2024.30
Grocke, D. (2023). THE MYTHICAL SWAN SYMBOL, LEGEND, AND IMAGE. Journal of the Association for Music and Imagery, 20. https://doi.org/10.59451/jami.11869
McFerran, K. S., & Grocke, D. E. (2022). Brief online Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) sessions for university students: Urgency and surrender. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy. https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2024.65
Ip-Winfield, V., & Grocke, D (2021). Virtual Group Music and Imagery (Grp MI) with healthcare staff during the Covid-19 pandemic in Melbourne. Australian Jounral of Music Therapy, 32(1), 97-111

Objectivist research and journal articles:

Clark, I., Ip-Winfield, V., Murphy, M., Shanahan, E., & Grocke, D. (2023). The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music for family caregivers of people with dementia: A within subject feasibility study. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2022.2113913
Fachner Jörg C., Maidhof Clemens, Grocke Denise, Nygaard Pedersen Inge, Trondalen Gro, Tucek Gerhard, Bonde Lars O. (2019) “Telling me not to worry…” Hyperscanning and Neural Dynamics of Emotion Processing During Guided Imagery and Music. Frontiers in Psychology. Volume 10 – 2019. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01561
O’Callaghan, C., Hubik, D., Dwyer, J., Williams, M., & Ross, M. (2020). Experience of music used with psychedelic therapy: A rapid review and implications. Journal of Music Therapy, 57(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thaa006

Other prominent resources:

Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy: Special edition on Guided Imagery and Music
The MICO project is an ongoing Scandinavian multi–site project on music and imagery in relation to side effects of chemotherapy in children. www.micostudy.com
Grocke, D (1999) A Phenomenological Study of Pivotal Moments in Guided Imagery and Music. University of Melbourne.
Short, A. (2003). Holistic aspects of rehabilitation post-cardiac surgery in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.
Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney.

Books

Receptive Music Therapy, 2nd Edition: Techniques, Clinical Applications and New Perspectives

Receptive Music Therapy, 2nd Edition

Techniques, Clinical Applications and New Perspectives

Authors: Katrina McFerran, Denise E. Grocke
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2022

The second edition of Receptive Music Therapy builds on the foundations of the first but provides a completely new rendition, replete with examples from contemporary practices and recognising the value of online music therapy experiences.
Learn how music therapists select music from a wide range of diverse musical styles through both collaborative decision making and client-led approaches. Methods include focused music listening, playlist construction, lyric analysis, relaxation, music and imagery along with fundamental principles for receptive music therapy.

Guided Imagery and Music: The Bonny Method and Beyond, 2nd edition

Guided Imagery and Music: The Bonny Method and Beyond, 2nd edition

Edited by Denise E. Grocke
Barcelona Publishers, 2019

A comprehensive textbook on theory, practice, and research into the Bonny Method of GIM and its applications with individuals and groups of all ages with various needs. Models of practice of GIM are presented within Jungian, psychodynamic, Gestalt, cognitive and transpersonal orientations, and advancements to GIM are detailed (e.g., new music programs, and methods of analyzing music programs).
Theory and research on GIM are examined, and the book closes with a discussion of professional issues such as technology, ethics, supervision, and self care. The Appendices provide a comprehensive list all music programs developed by Bonny Method practitioners.

Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and Music Imagery Methods for Individual and Group Therapy

Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) and Music Imagery Methods for Individual and Group Therapy

Edited by Denise Grocke and Torben Moe
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2015
https://www.jkp.com/index.php?uk

This is the first book to systematically describe the range of approaches used in Music Imagery (MI) and Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) across the lifespan, from young children through to palliative care and older people.
Covering a broad spectrum of client populations and settings, international contributors present various adaptations of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music to accommodate factors such as time restraints, contexts (including hospitals, schools and the wider community), medical and mental health conditions, and diversity of music programs.