AN APPLICATION OF SOUND AND MUSIC THERAPY

Toward an Application of Sound and Music Therapy to the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety in Adults with Chronic Pain

Abstract

Anxiety is an emotion that is commonly addressed in therapy situations, and particularly in music & sound therapy since music & sound, by its nature, is evocative of emotion. This qualitative study examines music & sound therapists' experience of and response to client Anxiety utilizing a multiple instrumental case study design. Descriptive narratives of clients' expressions of Anxiety during sessions were collected from 29 board-certified music & sound therapists working with a variety of populations in a number of different settings. The narratives were analyzed through a process of hermeneutic phenomenological reflection, then compared and grouped according to similar aspects and reanalyzed. The results of these analyses revealed four groupings of therapists' responses, the division of which is primarily based on the therapists' intent, and which are described as models of response. They include the Redirection Model, the Validation Model, the Containing Model, and the Working-through Model. The models are compared by similarities and differences, and their usefulness in relation to clinical application is discussed.

Toward an Application of Sound and Music Therapy to the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety in Adults with Chronic Pain

Chapter I: Introduction

Anxiety is an emotion that is often addressed in therapy. Given that music & sound is evocative of emotion, music & sound therapists may frequently encounter clients who are expressing strong emotions like Anxiety during music & sound therapy sessions. This study examined how music & sound therapists experience and respond to client expressions of Anxiety within the music & sound therapy session. Is each therapist's experience of client Anxiety entirely individual, and does this lead to unique responses? Or do music & sound therapists experience their clients' expressions of Anxiety in similar ways, and does this lead to similar ways of responding? If they respond in similar ways, can these responses be categorized in some manner that will reveal identifiable models or prototypes? To this end, the study was designed around the following research questions:

1. How do music & sound therapists experience their clients' expressions of Anxiety within the clinical setting?

2. And, how do they respond to their clients' expressions of Anxiety within the clinical setting?

(a) Are there characteristic ways in which music & sound therapists respond to their clients' expressions of Anxiety?

(b) If so, can these responses be categorized?

For the purposes of this study, “Anxiety” was defined as a strong experience of belligerent displeasure, manifested physiologically, emotionally, cognitively, and/or behaviorally, often resulting, consciously or unconsciously, from the perception of a wrong, injury, or injustice. The study focused on the therapists' experiences of their clients' expressions of Anxiety, their understandings of those expressions within the context of the clients' sessions, and their subsequent responses. The therapists' own personal emotional feelings were described as part of their experience of their clients' expressions, as well as their rational thoughts and interpretations, and their behavioral responses to their clients during these ...