Imagery as Alternative Therapy of Depression: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR)

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to thoroughly investigate how imagery therapy impacts the severity of depression. The systematic literature review (SLR) analyzed all relevant publications available up until January 2023 from two reputable databases: Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. The screening process followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. This review highlighted that imagery therapy significantly reduces the overall depression level of the participants.  By significantly reducing the level of depression based on objective tests analysed using meta-analysis, imagery therapy was evidenced to influence the level of depression. This SLR exercise gives specific focus that could benefit two areas of psychology, the clinical psychology and sports psychology.