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

[individual or group]
The therapist-parent feedback starts with the therapist asking the parent
(s) what they thought of the session and how they felt their child reacted.
This had proved to be a useful technique as the parents’ response is often
surprising. This meeting is invaluable as it puts the assessment into the
context of the child’s wider life.
“Is your child different in other situations, or was this typical behaviour
for him?” is a question we always ask. Often the answer to this is that
their child reacted very differently in the music therapy situation. This
vital information is something we missed out on when we were using the
initial assessment model. We would not have realised that the child’s
behaviour was unusual or have been aware of the significance of their
responses. These feedback sessions also give us insight into the parent’s
understanding of music therapy.
Some parents say they have never seen their child so responsive and they
are amazed at what he is able to do. At times, parents find it quite an
emotional experience and often say they have never seen their child focus
for such long periods of time or interact so easily. Other parents find it
hard to hear about the difficult emotions and tend to focus purely on the
musical aspects of the session and say “they obviously enjoyed
themselves” or “he really loved the music”.
The advantages of having two therapists have proved to be of great
benefit. We are able to bounce ideas off each other, discuss how each of
us felt in our different roles and it is fascinating to observe how often we
both agree. Following sessions, we often discuss the transference and
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