Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

More general overviews of how music therapy can be integrated in cancer care,
including diagnosis and treatment (e.g. radiation therapy), are presented by
Hodenberg (1997), Rittner (1997) and Verres (1997, 1999). 1
The following section brings together and overviews studies on the specific
physiological, psychological and psychosocial effects of BMGIM, and Group Music
and Imagery (GMI) in medical care and cancer care.
2.4 BMGIM in medical care
This section gives an overview of BMGIM, GMI and various modifications or
adaptations of GIM used in medical care, including the four phases of cancer
treatment, as reported in the literature.
2.4.1 BMGIM with medical conditions other than cancer
Short (1992, 2002) gives a review of BMGIM applications in health care, focusing on
the relationship between imagery and the multifaceted issues and needs of medical
patients. She writes that BMGIM has been recognized as a
”… a complementary therapy capable of having significant effects on the
body, particularly in the way that working with emotions, music and imagery
can impact on physiological measures” (Short 2002, p. 153).
Short presents a conceptual framework for BMGIM in a medical setting, including a
model of how an Imagery Conglomerate may be generated by a physical illness or
trauma, based on physical, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual ”markers”
(reactions and responses in the person that may be accessed in the imagery). Many
case studies and anecdotal reports illustrate how BMGIM may support and enhance 1)
ventilation of feelings, 2) pain management and 3) rehearsal of (normal) activities,
thus leading to physical and emotional healing of patients in medical care. BMGIM
1 Music therapy in oncology seems to be a growing field in Europe. At the 6th European Music
Therapy Congress in Jyväskylä (SF), June 2004, there were several presentations of case studies with
cancer patients in dyads or groups, as well as research studies using fixed and flexible designs (Seidel
2002). In a recent overview article (Aldridge et al 2003) 32 studies of art therapies applied to psychooncology
are abstracted.
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