When talk therapy
reaches its limits
Inviting you to become an explorer of consciousness and discover the rich inner terrain of the psyche with the integrative power of music and imagery as your guide.
Atlantis Institute trains experienced clinicians in the Bonny Method - a music - centered psychotherapy that accesses what words alone cannot reach.
Listen
In a BMGIM session, it begins here – with music, and your willingness to follow where it leads.
Put on your headphones. Press play. Close your eyes if you'd like.
In a BMGIM session, the music is considered a “co-therapist” with the trained guide. The guide helps facilitate what the music opens – the images, memories, feelings and insights that surface for the traveler. The music finds them.
Discover the MethodThat was the music working.
Now, the clinical framework behind it.
What is the Bonny Method?
The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) is a music-centered form of psychotherapy. As a trained guide, the therapist uses carefully selected classical music to help the traveler - the person receiving the session -access emotions, imagery, and memories within an expanded state of awareness.
In a session, the traveler reclines and listens to a music program chosen by the guide. As the music unfolds, images, sensations and feelings arise spontaneously. The guide accompanies the experience without directing it. Afterward, guide and traveler explore together what surfaced.
From first encounter to clinical practice
- a structured path through three levels
LEVEL 2
Clinical Practice I
Intermediate
50-hour intensive
Hands-on development of guiding skills and clinical use of BMGIM music programs. Students learn to design sessions, read a traveler's inner process, and develop a working relationship with music as co-therapist. Application required.
LEVEL 3
Clinical Specialization and Practice
Advanced
2-year 3 residential modules
Full clinical training in advanced BMGIM practice: working with clinical populations, archetypal and transpersonal dimensions, and the deep psychodynamics of music. Leads to certification as a Fellow of the AMI (FAMI). Application required.
LEVEL 1
Foundations of BMGIM
Introductory
36-hour intensive
An immersive introduction to BMGIM: its principles, core experience and therapeutic foundations. Open for personal or professional exploration.
Pre-requisite: an individual GIM session (can be in person or online) by an Atlantis trainer.
What clincians say
"BMGIM has been nothing short of transformative. It is the only modality
I know that so seamlessly unites expanded states of consciousness,
parts work, and somatic intelligence in a single session."
LARA M., MS, MT-BC, FAMI
Training clinicians for over 35 years.
Active in 15+ countries One of five recognized models of music therapy worldwide Endorsed by the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI).
Upcoming trainings
Atlantis offers programs across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Find the right entry point for you.
Learn from pioneers in the field
Our faculty includes clinicians, researchers, and trainers who have shaped
the development of GIM across four decades and multiple continents.
Sierra Stokes Stearns, Ph.D.
Co-Founder · Training since 1988 · Jung Inst. Zurich
Carol A. Bush, M.S.W.
Co-Founder · Author, Healing Imagery & Music
Jim Borling, M.M.
Prof. Emeritus, Radford U. · US, Korea, Germany, Mexico
Brenda Burgner, LCSW, FAMI
Trauma, depression, and addiction recovery · Richmond, VA
Curious to try a session?
Would you like to experience a personal BMGIM session with a trained guide?
Have questions about where to begin?
Contact anyone on our team for further exploration of what fits for you and where to begin
