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Vol 3 No 1 1989

Role Limits in Music Therapy p5 - p9

Janet Cowan

Abstract

Often through the course of work with a patient, issues arise which challenge one' role as a music therapist, and which lead one to question the limits of the experiences being offered to the patient.  In this paper I describe by work with a woman who initially avoided and resisted shared music-making, and who gradually became more able to be involved in spontaneous activity.  I tried to find ways of understanding the issues at the root of our relationship, in order to build on the musical interactions.  From this case, I intend to illustrate the deeper questions which, I believe, are pertinent to be asked more generally about the limitations attending the role of the music therapist.

The Use of Pre-composed Songs with a Highly Defended Client p10 - p15

Margaret Heal

Abstract

This paper illustrates how pre-composed songs which have special meaning for the client can serve as an intermediary phenomenon in psychoanalytically-informed individual music therapy, providing opportunities for the therapist and client to develop shared meanings within the therapeutic boundaries.  The client is a teenage boy with moderate learning difficulties who has suffered abuse and deprivation.  He is seen as highly defended, presenting an 'opportunist' secondary handicap (Sinason 1986) in response to earlier traumas, and as having a limited potential space (Winnicott 1971).  Pre-composed songs which has special meaning for him were able to contain his emotions in a structure that was not seen as a substitute for free improvisation, but as a necessary precursor.

After an introduction, the first five music therapy sessions will be described, followed by a conclusion discussing the underlying therapeutic processes.  The setting is a secondary special school in north London.  Music therapy is the only formal therapy offered for children who have been deprived, neglected, and/or abused, and who struggle with the reality of handicap every day.

Autistic Group Case Study p16 - p21

Alison Bryan

Abstract

A relatively unknown view that autism may in some cases be of a psychogenic origin is outlined, and elements of it applied in a group case study of six autistic children.  The nature of the group's music and its development during a five-month period is described and the music therapy setting examined as a situation in which such children began to overcome some of their difficulties.

Music Healing p22 - p25

Peter Wright

Abstract

There are two distinct traditions of Music Therapy.  One is of ancient origin whilst the other is the modern approach.  There are some major difficulties between them, but they have a great deal to teach each other.  The older tradition, however, is not as well known to the modern approach as it should be, for it is based upon its own distinct assumptions.  These have arisen from its foundations in shamanism and religious philosophy, which have produced a wide variety of techniques in helping to heal the ills of humanity.

Book Reviews p26 - p28

Musique Pour Renaître, Yolande Moyne-Larpin, (1988).  Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, France.  Reviewed by Amelia Oldfield.

Dramatherapy - Therapy and Practive for Teachers and Children, Edited Sue Jennings (1987).  Croom Helm, Beckenham, Kent. Reviewed by David John.

Vol 3 No 2 1989

Vibroacoustic Therapy: The Therapeutic Effect of Low Frequency Sound on Specific Physical Disorders and Disabilities p6 - p10

Olav Skille, Tony Wigram and Lyn Weekes

Abstract

This article traces the early development of vibroacoustic therapy, and some of the theoretical basis for its use in a treatment procedure.  It describes some of the initial work in the Scandinavian countries, gives examples of the type of problems that low frequency sound and music have been particularly effective in treating, and puts into perspective the use of music and sound as a physically effective means of treating people in comparison with the interactive forms of intervention commonly used by music therapists.

Much of the case material described in the article (Norwegian and English) is anecdotal.  In the latter section of this paper, current research is described.

Structural Analysis of Therapeutic Improvisatory Music p11 - p19

Colin Andrew Lee

Abstract

The hypothesis concerning analysis of pre-composed music and its significance in providing awareness for ensuing clinical situations (Schmidt, 1984), reveals further complex issues with regard to improvised therapeutic music.  the author will illustrate that much may be ascertained from analysing a passage of improvised music, in relation to future perceptual directions.  The client's development within music therapy is not the main consideration; nonetheless, at certain locations it becomes pertinent, in validating comprehensively this analytical study, to draw upon subjective issues relating to musical process and therapeutic outcome.  The design of this paper encompasses, in the main, abstractions relating to specific musical techniques, their affiliation with behavioural analysis, and the ensuing clinical implications of these aligned interpretations.  An atonal comparative sectional analysis is to be subsequently studied in a future publication, looking more specifically at the relationship between tonality, atonality and the significance of these factors for the future research of therapeutic improvised situation.

The Question of Music Therapy with Mentally Handicapped Adults p20 - p23

Christopher Parry Gale

Abstract

Recent emphasis on the 'normalisation' of adults with a mental handicap has called into question the provision of 'segregated' activities.  those things which are given the term 'therapy' are often seen as setting the mentally handicapped apart from the rest of the community.  this article seeks to explore music therapy as something which may help any of us to relate more positively to others , and thus, with the mentally handicapped, contribute to their normalisation.  the importance of allowing space for the response of the individual is emphasised, and account of therapy with two adults with a mental handicap are given.

To write or Not to Write p24 - p26

Margaret Campbell

No abstract

Case Study Review p27

Helen Odell