Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

adiotherapy treatment. These comments are very useful for the planning of new
research protocols aimed at investigating the effect of BMGIM in the treatment phase
(see 9.6).
The comments made by participants on the issue “Weekly/biweekly (fortnightly)
sessions” from the interviews (see checklist table 6.1) were also addressed by all six
participants, and is relevant to frequency of treatment. The project design included
biweekly sessions, however the participants were told that it was possible to have
other time intervals between sessions, if this would meet their needs better. As a
whole, the participants expressed satisfaction with biweekly sessions. Weekly
sessions were described as useful in periods (e.g. in the beginning of the therapeutic
process), but in general biweekly sessions had the advantage of enabling the
participant to work on her own, if she wished to do so, with continuous processing
(conscious or unconscious) of the imagery. In Burns’ study weekly sessions were
used, while the design of Clark and McKinney’s study included biweekly sessions. A
discussion of advantages or disadvantages was not included in the research reports.
Based on the participants’ comments in this study a flexible administration of
sessions, meeting the client’s present needs, is recommended.
9.2.3 Findings related to the theoretical basis.
In this section several theoretical issues from chapter 3 are brought forward and
further discussed. In section 9.2.3.1 the relevance of metaphor theory and narrative
theory for BMGIM theory and practice is discussed based on the results of the
qualitative investigation. In 9.2.3.2 the role of the will in the therapeutic process is
discussed in relation to the grounded theory proposed in chapter 6.
9.2.3.1 The relevance of metaphor theory and narrative theory
In chapter 3 metaphor was identified as the starting point for a narrative
understanding of the BMGIM process. It was also shown how metaphor theory and
narrative theory could connect BMGIM theory to current psychotherapeutic and
psychological theories, enabling a dialogue and opening new theoretical vistas. In the
overview of theories of music as analogy, metaphor and narrative it was shown how
the cognitive metaphor theory of Lakoff and Johnson might serve as a common
inspiration for the study of music and meaning in musicology and music therapy.
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