Giving Trauma a Voice,” as authored by Dorit Amir and published in Music Therapy Perspectives, examines one way that music therapy can achieve positive change for adult victims of child sexual abuse through the use of improvisation. It introduces some of the psychological aspects of child abuse before detailing a case study centred around a 32-year-old woman over the course of two years. The woman came to therapy in search of a solution for her social and emotional problems. The sessions were recorded by her consent and after some time it was revealed that she had been sexually abused by her father at a young age, though she previously had no memory of this. The article discusses her initial fearfulness, her traumatic epiphany, and her eventual freedom through the use of improvisational music therapy.
Dorit Amir’s article is important to music therapy as a profession for a number of reasons. Its case study is encouraging and seems to contribute to a growing collection of works in support of music therapy. The case of ‘Lisy’ seems to indicate usefulness in some cases of improvisational music therapy for adult victims of child abuse. Examples like this help to offer legitimacy to music therapy, which is crucial to the development and maintenance of the profession as a whole. Furthermore, the article is valuable in that it discusses the importance of trust between therapists and clients in cases such as the one described. Amir was unable to progress through therapy with ‘Lisy’ until the client had become more comfortable with her. This likely carries a special importance in clients with deeply emotional, deeply personal issues—especially those that deal with elements of control—but it can be applied through all forms of therapy an...
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...client. I also found the improvisational techniques extremely interesting, both in terms of the general structure of the therapeutic process as a whole and in terms of the actual techniques used. The action of having the client read while improvising is something I had never imagined, but it seems as though it could be extremely useful in helping the client improvise without thinking too hard about “sounding good.” Through both my deeper understanding of therapeutic trust and the applicable improvisation techniques I feel that this article has helped me to become a stronger and more thoughtful future music therapist.
Works Cited
Amir, D. (2004). Giving trauma a voice: the role of improvisational music therapy in
exposing, dealing with and healing a traumatic experience of sexual abuse. Music Therapy Perspectives, 22(2), 96-103. doi: 10.1093/mtp/22.2.96
Sutton, J.P (2002) Music, Music Therapy and Trauma: International Perspectives. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp.231-257.
The clients will be asked as a group to recall any other times they have had these feelings, with the therapist validating and normalizing clients’ feelings, explaining interactions between childhood trauma and self-image, expectations of others (including difficulty trusting), and any feelings related to power (Slotoroff, 1994). The therapist will ensure that a thorough follow-up of intense emotional provocations is provided for each client for the rest of the sessions. A recorded musical listening exercise while painting or drawing will close this session, taking pieces that evolve from this potentially angry emotional place to a more contemplative, and then a more joyous
Music therapy isn’t the same as other therapy. Music therapy uses music to help establish a connection of ...
Music therapy works because of its three fundamentals: the application of systematic thinking through music theory, the creation of an individualized treatment plan, as well as the patie...
Music therapy can be combined with occupational to increase the benefits of the special education services. A significant challenge people on the autism spectrum face is effectively communicating their thoughts, desires, and emotions in a socially acceptable way. Using improvisation in music therapy can help students on the spectrum express what they are feeling. Learning to use musical elements such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, and form, can help this population demonstrate musically what they need to communicate. For example, if they are feeling sad, they might improvise with a slow tempo. If they are angry, their improvisation might be loud and fast.
Music Therapy began in the early twentieth century after World Wars one and two. This was due to the fact many veterans had developed post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), and musicians would visit hospitals to perform music to the patients (BBC Radio 3, 2017). Clive Robbins, was a special educations teacher developed a new form of collaborative music-making along with an American composer and pianist called Paul Nordoff in 1959 which was the engage and interact with children who are considered vulnerable and alone, they called it therapy in music (Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, 2011). Clive Robbins went on to
B., Gfeller, K. E., & Thaut, M. H. (2008). An Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and
Music is everywhere we go; we listen to it in the car, while doing work, and there are even people who pay to listen or watch an artist perform live. Yes, life goes on without music, but music has such an impact on our lives. Life is a rollercoaster of emotions and we have music to fit our emotions to be just as we feel. Music has a great deal of importance of many people. It can have a meaning that they cannot explain to others and are able to connect with the song. By doing so experts are able to help patients overcome many sicknesses with the help of music. Music therapy is capable of being an advantage for many individual patients, it can encourage responses from patients that other methods of therapy cannot get from them. Also, it improves the patients in distinctive ways other than for an illness.
As cited in an article by Sawyer and Judd, there were close to3.3 million referrals of alleged child abuse in the United States of America (2012); this has profound implications on the field of music therapy because of the large amount of potential clients. There are several domains that must be considered when treating a survivor of child abuse: the need for safety and trust, sense of belonging, protection from perceived or actual threats, facing the defendant in court, prevention of revictimization, and empowerment (Sawyer & Judd, 2012). Davis, 2005, states that “children terrorized through sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse, or wartime atrocities may suffer from lasting wounds, nightmares, depression, and troubled adolescence involving substance abuse, binge eating, or aggression.” Victims of child abuse need to regain their sense of control over their lives. Experiencing healthy relationships, being nurtured by adults and helping them to learn resilience are all interventions that have been well-documented (Sawyer & Judd, 2... ...
Meadows, A. N. (2011). Developments in music therapy practice case study perspectives. Gilsum: Barcelona Publishers.
Expressive arts therapy is the use of art modalities, creative process, and aesthetic experience in a therapeutic context. It is a therapy of the imagination (McNiff, 1992). Effective communication is an essential element in therapeutic relationships and, although verbal language is the most conventional means of conveying information, other forms can convey just as much as words. The arts are an alternative form of communication that has recently received recognition for their value in therapeutic settings. There is a long well-established connection between the arts and psychology. Expressive arts therapy builds on a natural, complimentary relationship between the two disciplines. As a formal therapy, this form is relatively new with its own influences, history, processes, techniques, and considerations.
Trevarthen, C. (2002). The 'Second Making Sense of Infants Making Sense. Intellectica, 1, 161-188. Trevarthen, C., & Malloch, S. (2000). The Dance of Wellbeing: Defining the Musical Therapeutic Effect.
There are many of types of counseling in the world that are used often and then there are few that are used not so often, just because it is called therapy does not mean that the person is just in a room laying on a couch and talking to someone who keeps asking the same question “and how does that make you feel.” like we see on the television, There are therapies other than just in a room talking to someone; There are some in which people can do exercise, children can play games, they could even do group activities, just because someone is in counseling does not mean that they are confined to four walls and a note pad. The forms of therapy which will be focused on are Art and Music therapy, starting with art.
In order to understand why the use of music therapy is growing, one must know what exactly music therapy is. Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Music therapy also provides avenues for communicati...
Music therapy is the use of music and or musical elements by a qualified music therapist with a client or group in a process designed to facilitate and promote communication, relationships, learning, expression, organization and other relevant therapeutic objects in offer to meet physical, emotional, mental, social, and cognitive needs. There are many things that make music therapy. A few elements that contribute to music therapy are tone, rhythm, harmony, melody, and timbre. There are many reason as to why people try music therapy. A few would be coping with illness, managing problems, and overcoming impairments. When someone is thinking about music therapy the first step is getting a bachelor’s degree. There is also places that will let you