AIMI Faculty & Board of Trustees

FACULTY - Teach on-going Classes and Supervison of Clinicians

Rachel Epstein, L.Ac., J.D., Rachel is the director of the American Institute for Mental Imagery and teaches the institute’s core curriculum classes. She is also a holistic health practitioner with a private practice in New York City. For over 30 years, Rachel studied the western spiritual therapeutic tradition with her late husband, Dr. Jerry Epstein and also completed studies on mental imagery and dreams with the internationally recognized authority, Mme. Colette Aboulker-Muscat. A life-long spiritual seeker with an extensive background in the Hebraic tradition, she is a graduate of AIMI and is certified by Star’s Edge International to give the AVATAR Introductory training.

Rachel co-authored Reversing The Trauma of War (due out April, 2020) and worked with her husband on his last opus, We Are Not Meant to Die (due out summer, 2020). She is a NYS licensed acupuncturist trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and holds a juris doctorate from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. 

Elizabeth Ann Manhart Barrett, RN, PhD, FAAN, is Professor Emerita, Hunter College, City of New York. Author of four books and over 80 articles on a wide variety of subjects, she has taught and lectured throughout the country and abroad on her theory of Power as Knowing Participation in Change. In 1995, Dr. Barrett is a graduate of The American Institute For Mental Imagery and a licensed psychiatric nurse in New York State. 

Along with Dr. Epstein, she pioneered a seminal research project on the effects of mental imagery on treatment outcomes for asthmatics, under a grant from the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine. Dr. Barrett has earned a reputation as one of the most honored nurses in America. At present she conducts a practice of Health Patterning Therapeutic Touch and mental imagery.

Lydia Craigmyle, Ph.D., a graduate of The American Institute For Mental Imagery, is a licensed New York State psychologist who practices integrative mindbody therapy with an emphasis on mental imagery. She worked at Washington Square Institute and conducted research at Harvard University’s Maclean Hospital. Dr. Craigmyle specializes in the mother- daughter relationship. She also incorporates a natural breathing method, developed by Carl Stough, to reduce anxiety and depression. She has recently developed an innovative therapeutic technique called “The Craigmyle Calming Technique” to restore balance and health. 

Dr. Randy Kasper, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., is a licensed social worker in California and New York State and a graduate of AIMI. She currently runs the School of Imagery and Health on the West Coast, where she also maintains a private practice. She has helped to create and/or oversee hospital-based programs for Chemical Dependency, Domestic Violence and Employee Assistance in Texas, New York and California. Randy is on faculty at California State University (MSW program) and Alliant International University (Forensic PsyD program).  She has served on the Board of Imagery International. She is a Board Certified Diplomate, a BBS-approved provider of Continuing Education (State of California).

Amy Kruvant, L.C.S.W, A.C.S.W., is a licensed clinical social worker in New York State and a graduate of AIMI. She has also received postgraduate certification in EEG Biofeedback, EMDR, TFT as well as Human Resource Development. She offers classes and individual consultations in Whole Person Therapeutics through her company, Innovative Counseling LLC, located in Montclair, New Jersey. 

Dr. Jackie D. Schiff, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and a graduate of AIMI with over 25 years of experience in private practice in New York, London and in Israel. Dr. Schiff offers a multi-faceted approach with a broad and deep range of modalities including timeless ancient wisdom rooted in the Bible, to the latest in modern psychology and neuroplasticity of the brain. This mind/body/soul integrative therapy goes beyond mindfulness to include healing visualizations/mental imagery, breathing techniques, cognitive psychology, psychodynamic psychology, and relational psychology. In lectures and workshops internationally, Dr. Schiff teaches people to access powerful natural internal resources to stand strong, reignite creativity & take confident action. 

AIMI BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rachel Epstein, L.Ac., J.D.

Colin Greer, Ph.D.

Frances LaBarre, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Ann Manheim Barrett, RN-BC, LMHC, Ph. D., FAAN.