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Development and evaluation of

the Transpersonal Depth-Guided
Imagery and Music (TD-GIM)
inventory
a
Brian Abrams
a
John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State
University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Published online: 23 Feb 2015.

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To cite this article: Brian Abrams (2015): Development and evaluation of the
Transpersonal Depth-Guided Imagery and Music (TD-GIM) inventory, Nordic Journal of
Music Therapy, DOI: 10.1080/08098131.2015.1008557

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 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2015.1008557

Development and evaluation of the Transpersonal

Depth-Guided Imagery and Music (TD-GIM) inventory
Brian Abrams*

John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University,

1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Downloaded by [University of Sydney Library] at 06:47 14 August 2015

(Received 19 October 2012; accepted 29 September 2014)

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the criterion validity of a
33-item, binary-response inventory, the Transpersonal Depth-Guided
Imagery and Music (TD-GIM), for assessing the degree to which experi-
ences of the Bonny Method are transpersonal. Participants (N = 60) were
experienced Bonny Method practitioners, each of whom completed the TD-
GIM online, for 1–2 exemplars of Bonny Method experiences they them-
selves encountered, as clients. As a criterion measure, participants also
rated the transpersonal depth of their experiences on a five-point Likert
scale. The combined pool of exemplars from all participants was randomly
distributed between two data sets (n = 57 and n = 58). TD-GIM scores and
five-point ratings correlated at r = .72 (p < .0001) for data set one, and
r = .76 (p < .0001) for data set two. An item analysis yielded a modified,
brief version of the TD-GIM consisting of the nine items most strongly
correlated with the five-point criterion measure. The brief version produced
correlations of r = .77 (p < .0001) for data set one, and r = .78 (p < .0001)
for data set two. Methodological considerations include inventory design,
wording, rating distributions, and internal homogeneity, as well as the
approach to creating the brief version. Potential clinical applications
include use as a guiding framework for identifying transpersonal experi-
ences in Bonny Method work that complement the Bonny Method Guide’s
expert sensibilities. Future research implications include the value of
addressing the unanswered questions following the present inquiry.
Keywords: Guided Imagery and Music; GIM; Bonny Method; transpersonal;
depth

The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music

The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (also known in the
literature as “BMGIM,” “GIM,” or, as will be applied throughout the text
of the present study, the “Bonny Method”) is a form of music psychotherapy
in which a client images spontaneously to pre-recorded sequences of classi-
cal music in a non-ordinary (i.e., relaxed or expanded) state of

*Email: abramsb@mail.montclair.edu

© 2015 The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre

 2 B. Abrams
consciousness while dialoguing with a guide (Bruscia, 2002). Each Bonny
Method session involves a process of four specific steps.
The first step is the prelude. In the prelude, the client and guide explore and
identify material to be addressed (this step can involve both verbal and non-
verbal techniques). The second step is the induction. In the induction, the guide
helps the client to maximize imaginative potential and receptivity to the music
that follows, by providing various verbal directions and images for the client
(many resembling or incorporating aspects of the relaxation techniques outlined
above), while the client assumes a posture of maximum relaxation (typically
lying down) with eyes closed. The third step is the music imaging. During the
music imaging, the guide plays a sequence of recorded music, while the client
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allows any visualizations, sensations, emotions, memories, and other experiences

to emerge. As the client’s experience unfolds, she or he dialogs interactively with
the guide, so that the guide may witness, support, and help develop the experi-
ence. The fourth and final step is the postlude. In the postlude, the guide helps
the client return to an ordinary state of consciousness, after which the client and
guide reflect upon the music imaging experiences (again, this step can involve
both verbal and non-verbal techniques) (Abrams & Kasayka, 2005).
Among the most profoundly meaningful and transformational experiences
that can occur for a client in the Bonny Method are transpersonal experi-
ences. Helen Bonny, creator of the Bonny Method, has asserted that the
Bonny Method is itself transpersonal (Bonny, 1978a), given that one of its
core purposes is to serve as a medium for transpersonal work (Bonny, 1978b),
and that it represents an ideal form for those “seeking fuller experience and
insight in the areas of the humanistic and transpersonal” (Bonny, 1980, p. 25).
Due to the central importance of transpersonal experience within the Bonny
Method, training typically includes an orientation to transpersonal experiences
and their transformational value (Association for Music and Imagery, 1996).
Likewise, many Bonny Method training materials address matters of identify-
ing, understanding, and guiding these experiences (e.g., Bruscia, 1996, 1998b;
Stokes-Stearns, Bush, & Borling, 1998).

Transpersonal experience
Conventionally, transpersonal experiences have been defined as those which
(a) transcend the usual scope of individual human identity, personality and
ego (Anderson, 1998; Grof, 1988, 1996; Scotton, 1996; Walsh & Vaughan,
1996; Wilber, 1997); (b) encompass the wider aspects of humankind, life,
the psyche, and the cosmos (Walsh & Vaughan, 1996); and (c) transcend
limits of space and time (Grof, 1988). Terms considered synonymous with
transpersonal include archetypal, collective, cosmic, mystical, numinous,
paranormal, peak, religious, spiritual, transcendent, ultimate, and unitive
(Abrams, 2002a). Transpersonal experiences may or may not occur within
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 3
the context of religion and (when they do) are not confined to any single
religious orientation (Scotton, 1996).
A number of theorists have described various taxonomies of transpersonal
experience. For example, Wilber (1980, 1993, 1995, 1996a, 1997) has identified
several transpersonal stages of human development, each accompanied by a
different depth of consciousness. Likewise, Grof (1988) has constructed a tax-
onomy of transpersonal experience, based upon research in psychotherapy invol-
ving non-ordinary states of consciousness. Nelson (1990) has designed a three-
dimensional “map” of the features of transpersonal experience, whereas Walsh
(1995) has created a comparative framework for states of consciousness asso-
ciated with transpersonal practices.
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Various authors have classified aspects of experiences associated with trans-

personal phenomena, even when the term “transpersonal” itself is not used. For
example, documented aspects of what is known as mystical experience include
non-ordinary perceptual changes, deeply positive affect, noetic quality, tran-
siency, spiritual sense, unity, and ineffability (e.g., Gimello, 1978; Happold,
1970; James, 1929; Pahnke & Richards, 1973; Rowan, 1983; Stace, 1960;
Underhill, 1911). Studies on specific phenomena related to the transpersonal
include topics such as meditative states (Kornfield, 1979), being in a “deep
state” (Gifford-May & Thompson, 1994), transcendent awareness (Valle, 1989),
being with suffering (Quails, 1998), being with a dying person (West, 1998b),
feeling grace in the voluntary service to the terminally ill (Gowack & Valle,
1998), encounters with a divine presence during a near-death experience (West,
1998a), being silent (Marcandonatou, 1998), being unconditionally loved
(Matsu-Pissot, 1998), the sacred in everyday life (Adams, 1996), intense spiritual
experiences (Thomas & Cooper, 1980), and synchronicity (Hanson & Klimo,
1998).
Of clinical noteworthiness, certain components of psychiatric disorders have
been mistaken for transpersonal experience, such as infantile regression (Wilber,
1995, 1996a, 1996b) and psychosis (Lukoff, 1985, 1988; Lukoff, Lu & Turner,
1996; Wilber, 1996a, 1996b). Conversely, transpersonal experiences have been
mistaken for psychotic episodes, such as cases of spiritual emergency or trans-
personal crisis (Grof & Grof, 1986, 1989), in which a person, most likely stable
psychologically, spontaneously experiences various forms of transpersonal phe-
nomena, accompanied by an urgent drive toward transpersonal development.
Beyond erroneous classification, certain experiences can actually consist of
combinations of transpersonal and pathological components (Lukoff, 1988).

Transpersonal dimensions of music and music therapy

Music can help promote transpersonal experience (Keutzer, 1978) and can itself
be experienced in transpersonal ways (McClellan, 1988). According to Bonny
(1975, 1978b), experiences of music can promote access to any of the various
“permeable” levels of human consciousness, ranging from the most ordinary,
 4 B. Abrams
everyday states of consciousness (i.e., ego consciousness) to the most expansive,
transpersonal states. According to Bonny (1975), “The multidimensional quali-
ties of musical sound allow it to touch many levels of consciousness both
simultaneously and/or in sequence” (p. 130). A number of variations on this
theory of music and consciousness have been proposed (e.g., Bush, 1995;
Goldberg, 1994, 2002).
According to Bruscia (1998a), music experiences may function either as
means to transpersonal states of consciousness, or as transpersonal states them-
selves – in either case, involving profoundly aesthetic depths in which there is a
sense of unity among music, self, and the infinite. Similarly, according to Clark
(1998–1999), in transpersonal work, music can serve as “the fluid, unifying and
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energizing medium through which and in which the personality is transcended

and unitive states are attained” (p. 60).
Classical music offers certain unique virtues in the promotion of transperso-
nal experience, whether through listening (Panzarella, 1980) or performance
(Bonny, 1995). According to Summer (1992), classical masterworks possess
forms that develop musical ideas and materials in such transcendently aesthetic
ways that intimacy with such profound beauty can facilitate transpersonal expan-
sion of consciousness.
On a clinical level, transpersonal experiences of or through music can be of
significant psychotherapeutic value (Assagioli, 1971; Bonny & Pahnke, 1972;
Bravo & Grab, 1996; Grof, 1985; 1988; Lee & Speier, 1996). This is particularly
relevant for the discipline of music therapy. Bonde (2001) discusses the rele-
vance of transpersonal psychology (specifically, as articulated by Wilber) in
addressing matters facing music therapy clinicians and theorists around the
potentials of consciousness. Consistent with Bonde’s discussions, Scheiby
(2005) describes how a method known as Analytical Music Therapy, when
combined with Scheiby’s own method known as Musical Meditation, can serve
as a valuable resource for clients at the end of life who are coping with
transpersonal issues around death.

Transpersonal experiences of the Bonny Method

Imagery, like music, can play an important role in transpersonal dimensions of
healing (Achterberg, 1985) and psychotherapy (Houston, 1997; Progoff, 1963;
Sheikh, 1986). Therefore, the Bonny Method, which combines music and ima-
gery, is particularly well suited as a context for transpersonal experience.
Numerous accounts of cases involving applications of the Bonny Method include
direct mention of transpersonal experience (e.g., Bonny, 1975; Bonny & Savary,
1990; Clark, 1998–1999; Marr, 1998–1999; McKinney, 1993) or of related,
descriptive terms such as peak experience (e.g., Buell, 1999; Clark, 1991;
McIvor, 1998–1999), spiritual experience (e.g., Beck, 1996–1997; Borling,
1992), transcendent experience (e.g., Skaggs, 1997), and unitive or unity experi-
ence (e.g., Merritt & Schulberg, 1995).
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 5
Historically, Bonny Method clients and practitioners have struggled to iden-
tify and describe transpersonal experiences, due to their characteristic elusiveness
and ineffability (Abrams, 2001). Yet, attempts have been made to characterize
and classify them, primarily for training purposes. In the context of Bonny
Method training, Bruscia (1996) has described transpersonal experiences gener-
ally as those that (a) reach beyond the personal; (b) manifest as peak experiences
of a religious or spiritual nature; and (c) tend to feel supportive, nurturing, or
awesome. Certain Bonny Method training materials include specific descriptions
of transpersonal manifestations, such as images of clear light, transforming
colors, contact with energy fields, encounters with spirit guides and angels,
apprehensions of past lives, feelings of incredible beauty and awe, profound
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silences, a sense of self expanded beyond the body, the surrender of ego to larger
forces, unity with God, and unity with the music (Bruscia, 1998b; Stokes-Stearns
et al., 1998).
A review of literature on transpersonal dimensions of the Bonny Method
by Abrams (2001) reveals a range of specific experiences (with or without
direct mention of the music) such as profound experiences of light, extra-
ordinarily powerful or otherworldly physical sensations, deeply felt positive
emotion, identity metamorphoses, collective experiences (i.e., those involving
a profound sense of identification with a community, culture, or all human-
ity), and experiences involving a distinct sense of oneness. Additional aspects
of experience derived from these sources include encounters with sacred
spaces (such as religious buildings, heavenly realms, or other transcendent
domains); special objects possessing sacred power, wisdom, or healing poten-
tial; and supernormal presences or religious guide figures who impart wis-
dom, blessings, or love (Abrams, 2001). It is notable that not all of these
experiences were considered “positive” or “pleasant,” as some involved pain,
fear, hellish visions, or a profound sense of lacking (Abrams, 2001).
The value of transpersonal Bonny Method experience as a form of healing
and self-transformation has been acknowledged and documented (Bush, 1995;
Kovach, 1985). As a result, a number of Bonny Method music programs (i.e.,
carefully ordered sequences of classical music selections) have been specifically
designed to promote transpersonal experience (Kasayka, 1991; Lewis,
1998–1999). Likewise, it has prompted a number of studies investigating the
specific nature and clinical roles of these experiences.
Dahlstrom (1991), utilizing eight pre-specified, conventional categories of
transpersonal experience, classified the self-reports of 16 middle aged women on
their experiences of expanded awareness in a group adaptation of Bonny
Method. Kasayka (1991) conducted a related study, in which Bonny Method
sessions of several clients who listened to the Peak Experience (Bonny, 1978b)
music program were analyzed for transpersonal content. Similarly, Lewis
(1998–1999) analyzed 148 Bonny Method session transcripts (of various clients)
for transpersonal content, utilizing Wilber’s (1980) categories of transpersonal
experience as an interpretive framework.
 6 B. Abrams
Shaw (1995) identified a number of experiential themes of spiritual and
transpersonal experience through surveying and interviewing 17 Bonny Method
trainees and one Bonny Method trainer on their own past Bonny Method experi-
ences (as clients) that they themselves considered to be spiritual or transpersonal.
Hintz (1995) conducted a case-based, self-study on spiritual experiences (used by
the researcher interchangeably with the term “transpersonal experiences”) of the
Bonny Method – specifically, those involving supernatural or religious imagery –
and found that these experiences could be classified in such categories as divine
power (consisting of people, objects, and energies of a certain sacred nature) and
inner power (consisting of the interior spirituality embodied in persons, objects,
and energies). In another case-based study, Rugenstein (1996) classified observa-
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tions of one participant’s Bonny Method experiences as transpersonal in accor-

dance with Wilber’s (1993) framework of transpersonal development.
Abrams (2001) examined definitions of transpersonal experience, according
to individual interview accounts of nine expert Bonny Method practitioners who
conveyed transpersonal and non-transpersonal Bonny Method experiences that
they themselves encountered, as clients. Data analysis resulted in several differ-
ent constructions of transpersonal Bonny Method experience, according to how it
can be differentiated from the non-transpersonal variety. Based upon these
findings, the researcher constructed 10 categories characterizing core distinctions
between transpersonal and non-transpersonal experience (Abrams, 2002a). These
categories included Body and Physicality, Healing and Wholeness, Self,
Relationship, Humanity, Life Meaning, Spirituality, Qualities of Consciousness,
and Music. The researcher also developed a theoretical model consolidating the
common, core distinctions across all the different ways participants distinguished
between transpersonal and non-transpersonal, illustrated within a single diagram
(Abrams, 2001, 2002b). This diagram, presented here in Figure 1, demonstrates
how the degree to which Bonny Method experiences are considered transperso-
nal is based upon the degree to which the client experienced the music, the
imagery, or both components as simultaneously unitive (experiences of oneself as
being unified with other aspects of experience, as opposed to being separate and
distinct) and universal (experiences of comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, as
opposed to specificity and particularity).
Following Abrams (2001, 2002a, 2002b), only one published study spe-
cifically investigated the nature of transpersonal Bonny Method experience.
Blom (2011) analyzed two different Bonny Method transcripts (of one client)
from an intersubjective, phenomenological perspective, and found that the
relational mode of surrender (in which a client lets go of, or works through,
the separation between self and something beyond and greater than self, as
part of experiencing a more unitive way of being) was a key component of
transpersonal experience in the Bonny Method, and that it held numerous
clinical benefits. Blom’s findings support Abrams’s (2001) speculations that
“The sense of universality and unity inherent in transpersonal GIM experi-
ences requires giving self up to something beyond self” (p. 339) and that
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 7
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Figure 1. Diagram of model defining transpersonal Bonny Method experience.

surrender “sets the stage for the negotiability of personal boundaries required
for the emergence of transpersonal GIM experiences” (p. 339).

Purpose of present study

According to the extant literature, transpersonal experiences of the Bonny
Method of Guided Imagery and Music are clinically relevant and significant.
At the same time, their elusiveness and ineffability render them challenging to
identify and articulate. Qualitative research has provided insight into certain
constructs that define and qualify these experiences (Abrams, 2001, 2002a,
2002b; Blom, 2011; Hintz, 1995; Kasayka, 1991; Lewis, 1998–1999;
Rugenstein, 1996; Shaw, 1995), yet a systematic process for identifying these
experiences, based upon the perspectives of those who have actually experienced
them, has not yet been developed. As a first step in developing such a process, an
instrument based directly upon categories from prior research findings (Abrams,
2002a) was developed and examined according to how well it aligns with tacit,
expert knowledge on what constitutes transpersonal Bonny Method experience,
from a first-person perspective (i.e., based upon the experts’ own experiences, as
Bonny Method clients). If properly aligned in this manner, such an instrument
could potentially be understood as an external “embodiment” of key elements of
the tacit, expert knowledge required for assessing degrees of transpersonal depth
in Bonny Method (derived from extensive first-person experience, supervised
work, academic study, and general, prolonged “immersion” in the community
and culture of the Bonny Method – including its elusive, transpersonal
dimensions), rendered accessible to those without this expert orientation, so
 8 B. Abrams
that their first-person accounts could contribute meaningfully to the assessment
without ever having to address the construct “transpersonal Bonny Method
experience” itself, directly. Moreover, an evaluation of this alignment would
help reveal which components of the scale contribute most and least significantly
to discerning levels of transpersonal depth. Therefore, the purpose of the present
study was to evaluate the criterion validity of a 33-item, binary-response (yes/no)
inventory, the Transpersonal Depth-Guided Imagery and Music (TD-GIM), for
assessing the degree to which experiences of the Bonny Method of Guided
Imagery and Music are transpersonal.
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Method
Design
This study consisted of a two-iteration, quantitative survey (delivered electro-
nically, online) featuring the TD-GIM inventory, paired with a single question
referring to the very construct the inventory was designed to measure. This
design was chosen so that correlation between inventory scores and responses
to the question (by those most likely to possess the proper background and
authority required for answering it meaningfully) could yield an evaluation of the
inventory’s criterion validity.

Instrument
The TD-GIM is a 33-item inventory composed of descriptive statements, each
calling for a dichotomous (binary) response (“yes/no”), and each intended to
represent the presence or absence of a particular feature contributing to a
profile of a given Bonny Method experience which, in turn, characterizes the
level to which that experience can be considered transpersonal (refer to
Table 1 for the list of items in the TD-GIM inventory). Because of the
often intense, draining nature of a typical Bonny Method session, the simpli-
city of a dichotomous (binary) response set (yes/no) was favored over the
cognitive demands of a scale continuum, which could be too daunting for a
client in the postlude phase of the session, after just having begun the process
of returning from a non-ordinary state of consciousness.
Items on the inventory are derived from specific qualities comprising nine
categories (or themes) identified in the findings of a prior, qualitative study
(Abrams, 2002a) explicating Bonny Method practitioners’ knowledge on the
differences between transpersonal and non-transpersonal Bonny Method
experiences. The categories from which the inventory items are derived
consist of Body and Physicality, Healing and Wholeness, Self, Relationship,
Humanity, Being and Life, Spirituality, Qualities of Consciousness, and
Music. It is worthy of note that Being and Life represents a modification of
the original category title, Life Meaning, as the original did not effectively
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Table 1. TD-GIM inventory.

Data set #1 (n = 57) Data set #2 (n = 58)

Item Descriptive statement (for yes/no response) Directionality Category % Yes rpb p % Yes rpb p

1 I had physical sensations beyond the usual human Affirmative Body and physicality 65 .52 <.0001 72 .31 .017
range
2 My body expanded (in size, nature, etc.) beyond its Affirmative Body and physicality 68 .49 .0001 59 .36 .0058
usual boundaries
3 I had a sense of my body as a separate, individual Contrary Body and physicality 47 −.15 .2551 48 −.18 .1824
entity
4 There was a focus on my own individual, personal Contrary Healing and Wholeness 49 −.31 .0184 53 −.32 .0129
health
5* I had a sense of wholeness or integration, beyond Affirmative Healing and wholeness 68 .61 <.0001 60 .64 <.0001
my own personal, individuality
6 I had a sense of my own individual health or healing Contrary Healing and Wholeness 70 .02† .8892 66 0 .9841
7* My sense of self was fluid or impermanent Affirmative Self 54 .64 <.0001 43 .45 .0004
8 There was a focus on my own personal, Contrary Self 56 −.47 .0002 52 −.41 .0015
biographical self
9 There was a focus on my own personal concerns Contrary Self 68 −.38 .0035 52 −.54 <.0001
and needs
10 I identified with, or merged with, super-human Affirmative Relationship 35 .36 .006 33 .34 .0094
Nordic Journal of Music Therapy

beings
11 I related to others as fundamentally separate beings Contrary Relationship 39 −.37 .0042 41 −.33 .0110
12 I had a global sense of humanity Affirmative Humanity 56 .51 <.0001 64 .46 .0003
13 I encountered, or had a sense of, the unacceptable, Contrary Humanity 39 −.14 .2849 40 −.2 .1292
darker sides of humanity
14 I had a general understanding about life meaning Affirmative Being and life 70 .29 .0265 72 .34 .0085
15* I had a sense of the core of being Affirmative Being and life 70 .6 <.0001 78 .41 .0012
16 I had a sense of ultimate mystery Affirmative Being and life 54 .5 <.0001 62 .43 .0008
17 I noticed having specific, intellectual understandings Contrary Being and life 47 −.04 .7577 47 −.18 .1731
18* I had a sense of going beyond the limits of mortality Affirmative Spirituality 56 .48 .0002 50 .57 <.0001
9

(continued )
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10

Table 1. (Continued).

Data set #1 (n = 57) Data set #2 (n = 58)

Item Descriptive statement (for yes/no response) Directionality Category % Yes rpb p % Yes rpb p

19* I embraced sacredness or goodness Affirmative Spirituality 75 .6 <.0001 69 .58 <.0001

20* I encountered something spiritual Affirmative Spirituality 74 .61 <.0001 83 .44 .0006
21 I felt distance from, or absence of, the spiritual Contrary Spirituality 21 −.14 .2849 10 −.35 .0066
22* I had a sense of the ethereal or mystical Affirmative Qualities of consciousness 67 .62 <.0001 74 .54 <.0001
23* I had a sense of completeness or of “nothing missing” Affirmative Qualities of consciousness 58 .58 <.0001 55 .67 <.0001
24* I had a sense of being part of everything Affirmative Qualities of consciousness 63 .53 <.0001 52 .58 <.0001
25 My awareness was clear and grounded Contrary Qualities of consciousness 74 −.05 .6834 67 .09† .5184
26 My perceptions were within conventional, Contrary Qualities of consciousness 30 −.3 .0236 31 −.24 .0741
individual, human limits
27 I had an everyday sense of being, distinct from, or Contrary Qualities of consciousness 25 −.18 .1794 29 −.36 .0053
separate from, everything else
B. Abrams

28 I encountered the music at its core depths Affirmative Music 67 .33 .0136 59 .44 .0006
29 I merged with the music Affirmative Music 63 .44 .0005 74 .35 .0063
30 I encountered expansion beyond usual boundaries of Affirmative Music 77 .69 <.0001 78 .38 .0031
experience through the music
31 I had an awareness of specific features of the music Contrary Music 40 .04† .7882 52 −.25 .06
32 I resisted connection with the music Contrary Music 5 −.07 .6261 3 −.05 .7054
33 The music supported an individual, separate sense Contrary Music 46 −.16 .2277 52 −.2 .1418
of self
Notes: The two data sets were created by random selection of one exemplar by each participant.
rpb stands for point-biserial correlation coefficient value between individual items on the TD-GIM and Participant Ratings of Bonny Method Session Experience Exemplars.
*Included in the modified, brief, nine-item version of the TD-GIM.
†Polarity of correlation contradicted intended/expected directionality.
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 11
capture all of the respective inventory items in the context of the TD-GIM;
yet, the researcher strived to keep the items themselves consistent with the
general meaning of the category, as described in the original study (Abrams,
2002a). A tenth category from the original study, Experience of Guide, was
found to play only a marginal role in distinguishing transpersonal from non-
transpersonal experiences of the Bonny Method; therefore, no items based
upon this category were included in the TD-GIM inventory.
The TD-GIM is designed to be administered to adults participating as clients
(or “travelers”) in the Bonny Method and can be administered electronically or in
paper-and-pencil form, on an individual or group basis. Each item is scored
according to the item’s directionality, or its polar orientation with respect to
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whether a “yes” response indicates greater transpersonal depth – an affirmative

directionality (“yes” scored as 1 point, “no” scored as 0 points) or a lesser
transpersonal depth – a contrary directionality (“yes” scored as 0 points, “no”
scored as 1 point). Thus, the cumulative score on the TD-GIM is a numerical
point continuum ranging from 33 (indicating the greatest transpersonal depth) to
0 (indicating the least transpersonal depth).

Participants
Participants were Fellows of the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI). AMI
Fellows are experts in the Bonny Method, each with considerable experience as
both clients and practitioners, and therefore were most likely to possess the
internalized knowledge required for assessing the transpersonal depth of various
Bonny Method experiences they themselves encountered, as clients (based upon
the series of personal sessions required in Bonny Method training, or upon
sessions undertaken beyond this requirement). The AMI Fellow population is
fairly heterogeneous and only marginally diverse, consisting predominantly of
graduate-educated, middle-class, English-speaking, Caucasian females from the
United States. However, specific participant demographics were not gathered, as
AMI Fellows are the definitive authorities on the study’s subject matter, inde-
pendently of any other demographic factors.
While AMI Fellows can generally differentiate among various degrees of
transpersonal depth of Bonny Method experiences, the knowledge concerning
precisely what differentiates among these various degrees remains largely tacit
(Abrams, 2001, 2002a). Thus, because the TD-GIM inventory is based upon
explicated knowledge concerning this very differentiation (Abrams, 2002a), the
core purpose of the present study (validating the TD-GIM) was addressed by
examining how well Fellows’ assessments of different levels of transpersonal
depth (comprising a criterion measure) align with scores on the TD-GIM
inventory.
After obtaining permission from the Association for Music and Imagery
(AMI), invitations were sent via email to all AMI Fellows included in the
Fellow Members Registry (AMI, 2011). A total of 223 email invitations were
 12 B. Abrams
sent. Each described the study and provided an electronic link to an online
survey featuring the TD-GIM. Each participant that followed this link was
asked to provide informed consent (on the welcome page of the online survey),
after which access to the survey was provided.
Of the invitations sent, 206 were presumed delivered and 17 were returned as
undeliverable (due to non-working address or other reason). Of the 206 pre-
sumed recipients of the invitation, a total of 78 recipients initiated the survey,
while 128 did not respond. Of the 78 who began the survey, a total of 60
recipients completed the survey for at least one of the two exemplars requested
and were thus included in the study as participants (representing an approxi-
mately 29% return rate, based upon invitations presumed delivered). Of the
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remaining 18 recipients who did respond, but who did not complete the survey
(even for one iteration), 6 answered “no” to the initial, screening question as to
whether or not the recipient has access to a mental health professional (a
required, ethical safeguard in the event of an adverse emotional reaction to
recalling and thinking about the content of strong psychological experiences),
whereas the reasons for non-completion by 12 of these recipients remained
unknown. Of the 60 participating recipients, 55 contributed two exemplars
each, whereas 5 contributed only one each. Thus, the total number of exemplars
contributed by the 60 participants was 115.

Procedure
Data collection
The TD-GIM was posted in the form of an electronic, online survey. The survey
consisted of two full iterations of the inventory, designed to elicit two contrasting
experiences (ideally, of different levels of perceived transpersonal depth) from
each participant about Bonny Method sessions they themselves had undergone,
as clients. At the outset of each iteration, the survey prompted the participant to
consider and rate an experience using a five-point Likert scale (according to the
instructions, “Please recall a session of the Bonny Method that you experienced
as a client, and rate it along the following continuum describing the extent to
which you considered this particular session to be transpersonal”). On the scale, a
1 indicated “least transpersonal” and a 5 indicated “most transpersonal.” This
rating of transpersonal depth is not itself part of the TD-GIM, but rather served as
the primary reference point of comparison, or key, by which the criterion validity
of the inventory could be evaluated within the present study. Because the
objective was to elicit a range of experiences representing a natural distribution
addressing the full continuum of the scale (including the middle range), no
directions were provided for selecting experiences of specific levels of transper-
sonal depth.
In each of the two iterations of the inventory, the participant was prompted to
recall an experience, to rate that experience along the five-point transpersonal
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 13
depth scale, and to complete the 33-item TD-GIM inventory, as applied to the
experience. The survey remained open for 4 weeks, after which the data were
downloaded for analysis.
It should be noted that methodological concerns about the potential degrada-
tion and distortion of memory integrity of past experiences over time were not
relevant here, as the purpose was only to relate the participants’ understanding of
the transpersonal depth continuum to their experiences as remembered, in the
present. Essentially, the extent to which the participants’ memories themselves
were “true” or “accurate” simply did not hold any significance with respect to the
present study.
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Data analysis
To establish independence of data samples, exemplars were initially divided into
two separate data sets by participant, consisting of all first (or sole) exemplars in
set one (n = 60), and all second exemplars in set two (n = 55), with the
asymmetry between sets resulting from the five participants having contributed
only one exemplar. Then, to counterbalance for order of elicitation, exemplars
were assigned at random (via electronic coin toss) to either original or reverse
orientation between the two sets (which included reassignment of three sole
exemplars from data set one to data set two). This resulted in a newly constituted
data set one (n = 57) and data set two (n = 58) that together would, in turn, allow
for a double evaluation of criterion validity. Data analysis based upon these two
data sets consisted of five basic steps.
First, to understand the distribution of perceived levels of transpersonal depth
(on the five-point scale) across participant-selected exemplars, a descriptive ana-
lysis of this distribution – including percentage incidence of each rating level, as
well as the mean, median, mode of rating levels – was performed within each data
set. Second, to measure the general alignment between TD-GIM scores and
participant perceptions of transpersonal depth, a Pearson r correlation coefficient
was calculated for TD-GIM scores against five-point ratings, within each data set.
Third, to evaluate the relative strength of each item on the TD-GIM, an item
analysis employing point-biserial correlation coefficient (rpb) calculations was
performed for individual items against corresponding participant ratings of trans-
personal depth, within each data set. The rpb returns a correlation value between −1
and 1 (like Pearson’s r), representing correlation between a binary, nonparametric
measure (i.e., the yes/no option on each TD-GIM item) and a parametric measure
(i.e., the five-point transpersonal depth rating). For additional descriptive compre-
hensiveness, the item analysis process also included calculation of relative per-
centages of “yes” and “no” responses out of total responses to each item, within
each data set. Fourth, based upon the results of the item analysis, a modified, brief
form of the TD-GIM was constructed, consisting exclusively of those items
displaying a between-set average |rpb| of ≥.50, a between-set individual |rpb| of
≥.40, and an α threshold of p = .001 (two-tailed) – a set of criteria generally
 14 B. Abrams
indicating a “strong” level of correlation (Pett, 1997). Fifth, scores on the brief
form of the TD-GIM were tallied (utilizing original data that fell within the
selected items in the brief form, as if participants had only completed those
items) and compared with the participant ratings on the five-point scales (again,
utilizing a Pearson r calculation), for each of the two data sets.

Ethical precautions
The online survey was anonymous; however, any research involving human
participants demands careful considerations of ethical implications and must
demonstrate measures ensuring protection of research participant rights and
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safety (including measures designed to avert coercion, preserve confidentiality,

prevent identification, and establish procedures for ensuring the participant’s
well-being – such as the screening question regarding a potential participant
having access to a mental health professional). This study successfully under-
went protocol review by the Institutional Review Board of Montclair State
University. At the time of institutional review, the researcher’s formal orientation
to human participant research ethics was documented as current.

Results
A descriptive analysis of participant responses revealed distributions of five-
point transpersonal depth participant ratings of Bonny Method session experi-
ence exemplars (see Table 2 for a summary of response frequencies within each
data set, by transpersonal depth rating, along with respective means, medians,
and modes).
Comparisons between total scores on the TD-GIM and five-point ratings of
transpersonal depth revealed a Pearson r correlation value of .72 (p < .0001) and
.76 (p < .0001) in data sets 1 and 2, respectively.
An item analysis of the TD-GIM via point-biserial (rpb) correlation coeffi-
cient calculations between individual TD-GIM items and transpersonal depth
ratings revealed a wide range of individual item strengths within both data sets
(see Table 1 for results of rpb calculations for each inventory item). Correlation
calculations revealed rpb values ranging from .62 on the affirmative directionality
end (Item #30) to −.47 on the contrary directionality end (Item #8) and from .67
on the affirmative directionality end (Item #23) to −.54 on the contrary

Table 2. Response frequencies, TD-GIM inventory.

5 4 3 2 1 Mean Median Mode

Data set one 19 (33%) 17 (29.8%) 9 (15.8%) 8 (14.0%) 4 (7.0%) 3.7 4 5

(n = 57)
Data set two 27 (46.6%) 9 (15.5%) 12 (20.7%) 6 (10.3%) 4 (6.9%) 3.8 4 5
(n = 58)
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 15
directionality end (Item #9) in data sets 1 and 2, respectively. As expected, the
greater the value of |rpb|, the greater the inferential significance level – thus, in
data set one, only those items with an |rpb| of .44 or greater achieved the α of
p = .001; likewise, in data set two, only those items with an |rpb| of .41 or greater
achieved the α of p = .001. All but three items (#6 and #31 from data set one, and
#25 from data set two) returned correlation polarities (±) that aligned with their
intended directionality (affirmative vs. contrary). Calculations of “yes” versus
“no” responses on each item likewise revealed a range in proportions of these
responses (see Table 1 for a summary of these proportions, per item).
Based upon the results of the TD-GIM item analysis, a modified, brief form
of the TD-GIM was constructed, consisting of the only nine items meeting all of
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the following criteria: a between-set average |rpb| of ≥.50, a between-set indivi-

dual |rpb| of ≥.40, and an α threshold of p = .001. Items that qualified for
inclusion within this brief form were #5, #7, #15, #18, #19, #20, #22, #23,
and #24 (shown in bold, in Table 1), all which hold an affirmative directionality.
Scoring the nine-item inventory in the same manner as the original version
resulted in a numerical point continuum ranging from 9 (indicating the greatest
transpersonal depth) to 0 (indicating the least transpersonal depth).
Within data set one (n = 57), comparison between total scores based upon the
modified, brief form of the TD-GIM and five-point ratings of levels transperso-
nal depth revealed a Pearson r correlation value of .77, at p < .0001. Within data
set two (n = 58), comparison between total scores on the TD-GIM and five-point
ratings of levels transpersonal depth revealed a Pearson r correlation value of .78,
at p < .0001. Notably, a Pearson r value of .77 or .78 is well within the range of a
“strong” correlation, and is markedly close to the threshold of .81, which is
considered “very strong” (Pett, 1997).

Discussion
Summary and implications of results
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the criterion validity of a 33-
item, binary-response (yes/no) inventory, the Transpersonal Depth-Guided
Imagery and Music (TD-GIM), for assessing the degree to which experiences
of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music are transpersonal. The TD-
GIM was derived from categories and subcategories formulated in a study
defining transpersonal experiences of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery
and Music (Abrams, 2002a). The TD-GIM was administered to 60 experienced
Bonny Method practitioners, who together contributed a total of 115 Bonny
Method session exemplars, ranging in levels of participant-rated, transpersonal
depth (on a five-point scale).
Results of data analysis demonstrate that TD-GIM scores correlated strongly
with participants’ transpersonal ratings. An individual item analysis identified
nine items demonstrating a particularly high level of correlation from which a
 16 B. Abrams
modified, brief inventory was constructed. Scores based upon the brief inventory
alone yielded an even stronger overall correlation between transpersonal ratings
and total inventory scores. This suggests that the instrument, particularly in its
brief form, represents a clinically viable inventory that can – following further
investigation – be employed in order to assess the degree to which client
experiences in the Bonny Method are transpersonal.
A number of potentially valuable insights may be derived from a closer look
at the individual results of the item analysis, in which each item was evaluated
according to how strongly it correlated with the five-point transpersonal rating.
Several of these will now be considered, with respect to relative strength and
consistency of correlation, including the nine items included in the brief inven-
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tory as well as other items worthy of mention.

Of the top nine items demonstrating consistently strong correlations – and,
hence, that were included in the brief version of the inventory – the top two were
“I had a sense of wholeness or integration, beyond my own personal individual-
ity” (Healing and Wholeness) and “I had a sense of completeness or of ‘nothing
missing’” (Qualities of Consciousness). This suggests that being complete and
whole was one of the most central features of what participants considered to be
transpersonal in Bonny Method experiences. No other items within the general
category of Healing and Wholeness demonstrated consistently strong correlation;
however, other strongly correlated items within the general category of Qualities
of Consciousness included “I had a sense of the ethereal or mystical” and “I had
sense of being part of everything.” This suggests that non-ordinariness and
universality are key characteristics in discerning transpersonal Bonny Method
experiences, for participants.
The general category of Spirituality was also represented three times in the
top nine, consisting of “I embraced sacredness or goodness,” “I encountered
something spiritual,” and “I had a sense of going beyond the limits of mortal-
ity.” This suggests a relatively strong association between how participants
understood experiences of the transpersonal and how they understood certain
elements of spirituality, such as the sacred and the transcendent. Additional
strongly correlated items included “I had a sense of myself as fluid or imper-
manent” (Self) and “I had a sense of the core of being” (Being and Life). This
suggests that the sense of one’s being as fluid but with a fundamental core is
an important characteristic that is affirmative of transpersonal Bonny Method
experiences.
Several items displayed consistently strong correlation, but not to the extent
qualifying them for inclusion within the brief TD-GIM. These included “I
encountered expansion beyond usual boundaries of experience through the
music” (Music), “I had a global sense of humanity” (Humanity), and “I had a
sense of ultimate mystery” (Being and Life). The expansive, universal qualities
of these items are consistent with most of those that were included among the top
nine. It is notable that the correlation for “I encountered expansion beyond usual
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 17
boundaries of experience through the music” (in data set one, specifically)
represents the highest singular correlation of any item, in either data set.
The directionality of the most strongly correlated items (those included in the
brief TD-GIM, as well as the ones that came close to qualifying) were all
affirmative, indicating that an experience should be more transpersonal when
the response to any of those items is “yes.” This suggests that participants more
readily identified the distinctions between transpersonal and non-transpersonal
based upon what is, versus what is not, transpersonal. However, two individual
items with a contrary polarity, both in the general category of Self, did produce
relatively strong correlations (consistently in both data sets). These included
“There was a focus on my own personal, biographical self” (Self) and “There
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was a focus on my own personal concerns and needs” (Self). The strength of
these contrary items suggests that an important part of what disqualifies a Bonny
Method experience as transpersonal is a focus on one’s individual self and needs.
For the most part, results align with the theoretical model defining transper-
sonal Bonny Method experiences developed by Abrams (2001, 2002a, 2002b).
For example, the two most consistently strong items with an affirmative direc-
tionality, “I had a sense of wholeness or integration, beyond my own personal
individuality” and “I had a sense of completeness or of ‘nothing missing’,”
represent statements semantically expressing simultaneity of unity (the “oneness”
self with something beyond one’s usual sense of individual, personal existence
and identity) and universality (a scope of experience beyond the specific and the
concrete). Likewise, the two most consistently strong items with a contrary
directionality, “There was a focus on my own personal, biographical self” and
“There was a focus on my own personal concerns and needs,” both represent
statements expressing simultaneity of separateness (sense of self as distinct from
everything else) and particularity (a scope of experience focusing on the specific
and the concrete).
Some results do not align with the Abrams (2001, 2002a, 2002b) model,
however. While certain features were characterized as clearly contrary to trans-
personal experiences according to the participants in the study by Abrams
(2002a), this was apparently not the case for all participants in the present
study, as expressed in the weak correlations (consistently, in both data sets) for
items such as “I encountered, or had a sense of, the unacceptable, darker sides of
humanity” (Humanity), “I noticed having specific, intellectual understandings”
(Being and Life), and “I had a sense of my body as a separate, individual entity”
(Body and Physicality). Interestingly, certain items produced correlations that
actually contradicted the expected, contrary directionality (based upon the origi-
nal model) with positive correlations (albeit small ones, close to zero). These
items (noted on Table 1) include “I had a sense of my own individual health or
healing” (Healing and Wholeness, data set one), “I had an awareness of specific
features of the music” (Music, data set one), and “My awareness was clear and
grounded” (Qualities of Consciousness, data set two). Speculatively, these results
may indicate that participants understood transpersonal Bonny Method
 18 B. Abrams
experience in ways that did not agree with the constructs represented in the
Abrams model; or, they may simply indicate that participants in the present study
interpreted these particular items in ambiguous ways. Additional, plausible
explanations for these outcomes may, of course, be formulated.
In addition, the Abrams model specifies that both music and imagery,
together, comprise the qualities of experience that characterize levels of
transpersonal depth; yet, findings in the present study demonstrate that the
role of music-based TD-GIM items in contributing to the construct of trans-
personal depth was relatively weak, such that no music-based item met the
criteria for inclusion in the brief version of the inventory (in spite of one
music-based item, in one data set, attaining the highest individual item
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correlation score, in the whole study).

One may speculate that, because music is typically experienced in way that
is so integrated with imagery in the Bonny Method, the way one experiences
the music might indeed be significant in discerning level of transpersonal
depth, yet it may not be among the more salient features one recalls when
asked to reflect upon a past Bonny Method session (particularly when one is
not utilizing aural sense modalities in any direct way, as part of accessing
sense-memories of the experience). Likewise, perhaps, consistent with Bruscia’s
(1998a) principle of music as means, some participants may have experienced
struggles with the music as a process of achieving the more expansive, unitive
qualities of the transpersonal that ultimately characterized their exemplars; thus,
in those cases, the music itself may not have been part of what qualified the
experience itself as transpersonal. Clearly, this is an area warranting additional
inquiry.
In general, findings also align with other literature on transpersonal
Bonny Method experience. For example, the more strongly correlated TD-
GIM items describing unity and aspects of transcending the usual scope of
self align with Blom’s (2011) construct of surrender via the Bonny Method
as giving oneself over to something beyond and/or greater than oneself.
Likewise, the more strongly correlated TD-GIM items involving expansion
and unity align with Shaw’s (1995) Bonny Method experience categories
involving consciousness expansion and sense of unity. Moreover, the
strongly correlated TD-GIM items concerning spirituality align with findings
by Hintz (1995), including her categories of Bonny Method imagery con-
cerning divine and inner power.

Methodological considerations
There are a number of noteworthy, methodological considerations concerning the
present study. Five such considerations will now be discussed, in what follows.
One methodological consideration involves inventory design. For example,
items grouped according to their categories, without being randomized for order
of presentation, as patterns of inter-related groupings were considered by the
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 19
researcher to comprise a clinically coherent inventory; however, this leaves open
the question about the degree to which sequence of item presentation may have
factored into the results.
Another methodological consideration involves wording. For example,
there were a number of individual inventory items phrased conjunctively
(utilizing “and”) or disjunctively (using the word “or”), potentially diffusing
the semantic precision of these items. Likewise, the item that states, “I
noticed having specific, intellectual understandings” (Being and Life), was
derived from the description, “intellectual understandings of specific aspects
of life and its significance” in the original study serving as the basis for the
TD-GIM inventory (Abrams, 2002a). However, the researcher decided to
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make the item a bit more general for the purposes of TD-GIM, based upon
the assumption that the original findings indicated that the presence of
specific, intellectual thoughts was generally antithetical to transpersonal
experience. In retrospect, perhaps greater specificity in the phrasing of this
item may have been helpful. In addition, potentially ambiguous wording such
as “My awareness was clear and grounded” (Qualities of Consciousness), as
discussed previously in the context of its unexpected correlation polarity, may
have also come into play here.
Another methodological consideration is the distribution of levels of five-
point transpersonal depth ratings, which was clearly skewed in favor of
greater transpersonal depth, across exemplars. In both data sets, combined
incidences of level 5 and level 4 ratings outnumbered combined incidences of
level 3, level 2, and level 1 ratings. Although there is no known expected (or
“normal”) distribution for transpersonal depth ratings across any given sample
of Bonny Method sessions, a more even, balanced distribution across the five
rating levels on the scale may have provided more robust findings (although
how a more even distribution could be encouraged, without forcing the matter
in a contrived way, is not clear). Perhaps the topic of the study prompted
participants to think generally in the transpersonal direction with respect to
their exemplars. Nonetheless, because there were at least some exemplars at
each rating level, it is arguable that the statistical calculations hold sufficient
mathematical merit.
Yet another methodological consideration is that concordance between indi-
vidual items and total TD-GIM scores – and, thus, the general variance vs.
homogeneity among inventory items – was not calculated within the scope of
present study, as the primary purpose was to evaluate the degree to which the
inventory aligned with the participants’ own informed perceptions of transperso-
nal depth. Perhaps future research involving larger sample sizes, designed to
validate the TD-GIM on a broader, psychometric level, might employ a form of
nonparametric analysis for understanding the inventory’s internal homogeneity
and components of variance. A more thorough consideration of demographic and
other factors may also contribute meaningfully to future evaluation of the
inventory.
 20 B. Abrams
Finally, it should be acknowledged that analysis of the brief, nine-item
version of the TD-GIM was manually “extracted” from the data collected via
administration of the original, 33-item inventory. Thus, it cannot be presumed
that participants would have provided the same data in the context of completing
the nine-item form itself.

Potential applications
It is hoped that the TD-GIM may – after further evaluation on a larger scale –
serve a useful purpose in future, clinical applications within the Bonny Method,
and that it may serve as a guiding framework for assessing related phenomena in
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other practices. It is further hoped that the instrument, or a further refinement of

it, may be applied to research within the Bonny Method and/or related areas. In
addition, it is hoped that inquiry addressing unanswered questions posed in the
present study will contribute to clinically relevant knowledge and understandings
of transpersonal Bonny Method experiences.
As a caveat, it should be emphasized that the TD-GIM is not intended as a
categorical substitution for the intuitive sensibilities of the individual Bonny
Method practitioner in identifying transpersonal experiences, nor for the process
of understanding these experiences within the intricate context of the client–
practitioner relationship. Rather, the intention in developing this instrument
(originally derived from inter-subjective perspectives and experiential knowledge
of the Bonny Method practitioner community) is to provide a helpful, comple-
mentary resource and an “anchor” of objectivity for use in certain forms of
clinical work, as well as for inclusion in future research. The inventory may be
particularly useful for less experienced practitioners who, unlike experienced
practitioners, may not feel as fully confident about identifying transpersonal
experiences in work with their clients, particularly with respect to the kinds of
questions designed to elicit the first-hand perspectives of clients concerning their
own experiences.

Notes on contributor
Brian Abrams, Ph.D., MT-BC, LPC, LCAT, Analytical Music Therapist and Fellow of the
Association for Music and Imagery, has been a music therapist since 1995, with experi-
ence across a wide range of clinical contexts. Prior to his current position at Montclair
State University as Associate Professor of Music (2008–present) and Coordinator of
Music Therapy (2010–present), he served as faculty at Immaculata University (2004–
2008) and Utah State University (2001–2004). He has published and presented interna-
tionally on a wide range of topics such as music therapy in cancer care, music psychother-
apy, humanistic music therapy, and the interdisciplinary area of Health Humanities. He has
also contributed to the establishment of several medical music therapy programs. He has
served on the editorial boards of numerous journals, such as Music Therapy Perspectives,
the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, and Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy.
From 2005 to 2011, he served on the Board of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American
Music Therapy Association (AMTA), including as President from 2007 to 2009. On a
 Nordic Journal of Music Therapy 21
national level, he serves on the AMTA Assembly of Delegates (including as Speaker from
2012 to 2013), and served on the AMTA Board of Directors from 2010 to 2013.

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