Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

the music should be different. (…) I know that Ellen chose some music programs for
me in the last phase that I could not have handled in the initial phase. So it is
important to control the conditions, e.g. the prelude. – I hope this interview provides
more complete information than the questionnaires! I participated in a visualization
project during chemotherapy, including some sessions with a psychologist. I think it
was good that the verbal sessions were completely focused on ‘How do you cope with
your chemo?’, even if it irritated me intensely and I wanted to talk about anything
else. But it was possible, and I could have used visualization immediately after.. This
f……. treatment system is limited to the hospital treatment. Then we are remised,
completely on our own and on the conditions of the surrounding world, just like
psychiatric patients. It simply doesn’t work. – I am a participant in a breast cancer
self-help group. You should listen to us. None of us are abreast of the situation yet,
two to three years after. None of us work full time, I am the one who works the most.
People get spare jobs. We still discuss complete banal issues, like going to a
swimming bath when you have lost one breast. I am lucky to have both breasts saved,
I only have scars. But I have gained a lot of weight because I have to eat stupid
hormone pills to prevent relapse. Nobody knows how bad things are! We really need
a safety net. It would also save society a lot of money (e.g. to psychological
consultation) in the long run, because it would prepare people better. I think I take
better care of myself, the better I am supported. (…) I am shocked at the narrow time
horizon of our treatment system. There are so many cancer patients, the number is
increasing, and you have to fiddle with a small project on something that should have
been a reality 10 years ago.
[Let’s talk about some of the images that were important for you, e.g. the eagle (…)
Why did it emerge? Do you remember how it emerged?] I remember a development
in the way it merged. In the beginning I did not want to be the eagle, and had Ellen
not challenged my negative interpretation of the eagle… I’m not sure I would have
been able to validate it positively. I didn’t want to be the eagle, because it was so
lonely. And it was a bird of prey, swallowing mice! This was not company for me. I
consider my self a community-oriented person, very dependent on dialogue, so this
was an image representing something I could not acknowledge. Ellen looked in the
dictionary of symbols ‘Listen to this… etc. etc.’ And it made perfect sense. There was
also something about a snake that was also me. The eagle was honoured in almost all
religions of the world. (…) The very first image of the eagle was very static. It stood
453