Proceedings, Oxford, UK (2002) - World Federation of Music Therapy

How hard it was to stay with Heather’s passivity. I was acutely aware of
my feelings of inadequacy; a sense that ‘nothing happens’; how
important and significant tiny changes or differences are. I
acknowledged and valued my thoughts of ‘giving up’ – should I carry on
with individual therapy for so long? Acknowledging and considering my
own feelings and observations through this ‘emotional storm’ helped me
to bear the difficulty of the work and to learn more about Heather.
Shipton says that ‘to learn from experience we must allow ourselves to
have an experience, to become aware of it and then to think reflectively
about it’ (Shipton p25) My dialogue with supervision was also
important. It was important to think with someone else about the effect
on me of Heather’s use of the session. Shipton states that thinking in
supervision ‘is free-associative rather than directed, allowing thought to
germinate and develop in the mind and in the discourse between
participants.’ (p24); and that ‘the most effective role of a supervisor is to
facilitate communication between therapist and patient’ p47
After a year in therapy, an opportunity arose for Heather to join a group.
All those involved considered that this would be useful as it would give
Heather an opportunity to use her newly found interest in others, in a
group setting that still provided a rich and encouraging musical
environment. Now Heather began to engage in a much more active
dialogue with objects and with others. She engaged with objects more
actively and with an emotional quality (for example often reaching out
for an object and shaking or playing it and then flinging it away, bringing
a lively energy to the session which pleaseed her and the group).
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