Intrusive mental images in the form of flashbacks have long been recognised as a hallmark of post-traumatic stress disorder. However, clinicians have become increasingly aware that distressing imagery is a more pervasive phenomenon. There appears to be a powerful link between imagery and autobiographical memory. The field of autobiographical memory needs to account for disorders of remembering in psychopathology, including the reliving of past experiences in the form of imagery. While the role of mental imagery in psychopathology has been an under-researched topic, recently, there has been a surge of interest. This Special Issue of Memory, Mental Imagery and Memory in Psychopathology, edited by Emily A. Holmes and Ann Hackmann, presents a novel series of papers investigating emotional, intrusive mental imagery across a wide range of psychological disorders. The topics include post-traumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders such as agoraphobia and social phobia, as well as psychosis, bipolar disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and depression. The roles of imagery in symptom maintenance and in psychological treatment are explored. Further studies using non-clinical samples address information processing issues and imagery qualities. These include innovative approaches to modelling cravings in substance misuse, and the role of imagery in conditioning aversions. Pioneering work is presented on vividness, emotionality, and the type of perspective taken in imagery. This Special Issue begins and ends with theoretical papers that provide complementary approaches: reviewing findings from a clinical psychology perspective and an autobiographical memory perspective. New developments in cognitive therapy require a conceptual framework within which to understand imagery in specific psychopathologies. Since the experience of imagery is not abnormal per se, it is helpful to make links with accounts of 'ordinary' processing. Conway's work on autobiographical memory may provide such a framework. According to this model, images are thought to be forms of autobiographical memory, referred to as sensory perceptual knowledge that is experience-near. Indeed, although they may be unaware at the time, patients often later report that images appear linked to autobiographical experiences. However, despite being a form of memory, images may be experienced as actual events happening in the present, or as representing the imagined future, and project meaning for the self. Images may provide particularly potent means of carrying emotion and information about the self, compared to other forms of processing. In this Special Issue, Conway presents novel insights that suggest imagery is highly associated with self goals. Imagery can both reflect and maintain goals linked to psychopathology. An exciting consequence of this framework is that imagery can be used to resolve dysfunctional states in therapy. Imagery in psychopathology tends to be highly intrusive, distressing, and repetitive. It may arise 'out of the blue', i.e. directly triggered from autobiographical memory. Images can hijack attention and reflect negative self goals. It may therefore understandably provoke a variety of cognitive and behavioural responses. For example, interpreting the image as representing fact rather than fiction, trying to block it out of mind, or avoiding triggers for the image. Cognitive behavioural therapy targets such responses because they are thought to maintain psychopathology in a vicious cycle. In contrast, responses that update the image in memory could break that cycle. Further there is a role for positive, alternative images. Conway suggests that generating new images can generate new goals and thus ameliorate distress: an insight that may further enhance therapy. This book appeals to clinicians and experimental psychologists working in memory and emotion. It provides a forum to forge links between experi

Helping therapists bring about enduring change when treating clients with any anxiety disorder, this invaluable book combines expert guidance, in-depth exploration, and innovative clinical strategies. The authors draw on extensive experience and research to provide a framework for constructing lucid formulations of complex cases. They identify obstacles that frequently arise during the early, middle, and later stages of treatment and present a wide range of practical solutions. The volume demonstrates clear-cut yet flexible ways to enhance client engagement, foster metacognitive awareness, facilitate emotional processing, address low self-esteem and fear of uncertainty, and much more. Reproducible handouts and forms are included.

Behavioural experiments are one of the central and most powerful methods of intervention in cognitive therapy. Yet until now, there has been no volume specifically dedicated to guiding physicians who wish to design and implement behavioural experiments across a wide range of clinical problems. The Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy fills this gap. It is written by clinicians for clinicians. It is a practical, easy to read handbook, which is relevant for practising clinicians at every level, from trainees to cognitive therapy supervisors. Following a foreword by David Clark, the first two chapters provide a theoretical and practical background for the understanding and development of behavioural experiments. Thereafter, the remaining chapters of the book focus on particular problem areas. These include problems which have been the traditional focus of cognitive therapy (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders), as well as those which have only more recently become a subject of study (bipolar disorder, psychotic symptoms), and some which are still in their relative infancy (physical health problems, brain injury). The book also includes several chapters on transdiagnostic problems, such as avoidance of affect, low self-esteem, interpersonal issues, and self-injurious behaviour. A final chapter by Christine Padesky provides some signposts for future development. Containing examples of over 200 behavioural experiments, this book will be of enormous practical value for all those involved in cognitive behavioural therapy, as well as stimulating exploration and creativity in both its readers and their patients.

Imagery is one of the new, exciting frontiers in cognitive therapy. From the outset of cognitive therapy, its founder Dr. Aaron T. Beck recognised the importance of imagery in the understanding and treatment of patient's problems. However, despite Beck's prescience, clinical research on imagery, and the integration of imagery interventions into clinical practice, developed slowly. It is only in the past 10 years that most writing and research on imagery in cognitive therapy has been conducted.
The Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy is a landmark book, which will play an important role in the next phase of cognitive therapy's development. Clinicians and researchers are starting to recognise the centrality of imagery in the development, maintenance and treatment of psychological disorders - for example, in social phobia, agoraphobia, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, childhood trauma, and personality disorder. In the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, researchers are identifying the key role that imagery plays in emotion, cognition and psychopathology.
The Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy has been written both for clinicians and researchers. For clinicians, it is a user-friendly, practical guide to imagery, which will enable therapists to understand imagery phenomenology, and to integrate imagery-based interventions into their cognitive therapy practice. For researchers, it provides a state-of-the-art summary of imagery research, and points the way to future studies. Written by three well-respected CBT researcher-clinicians, it is essential reading for all cognitive therapists, who have recognised the limitations of purely 'verbal' CBT techniques, and want to find new ways to work with clients with psychological disorders.