Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

2.3.1 Descriptive articles
In a published case study, Lefebvre (1991) describes music therapy work with a
sixteen-year-old girl at Montreal’s children’s hospital. Lefebvre reflects on the need
to know the client musically: by looking back at the role that music had played in her
life she enables the girl to make links with her past. Lefebvre also responds to the
girl’s desire to learn music theory and concludes that whatever direction the therapy
takes, responsibility must be given to the teenager for their session and the therapist
must ‘trust in both the therapeutic process and the teenager’ (p. 230).
The value of learning an instrument for clients with poor self-esteem is documented
by Kivland (1986). In a case study of an adolescent with a conduct disorder, Kivland
describes how the boy, after learning the piano in music therapy, was soon able to
accept praise and make positive self-statements. Frank (2005) describes an
adolescent’s request to learn and be taught guitar, which is not uncommon with this
age group, and how this worked in therapy. His client was on a hospital ward and
suffered from schizophrenia. When his therapy finished and the young man left
hospital, he planned to continue learning the guitar, thus hold the relationship with his
therapist in mind.
Other published case studies include a piece of long term work with a teenage girl
(Schönfeld, 2003), and with an adolescent on an inpatient unit with a diagnosis of
Borderline Personality Disorder (Dvorkin,1991). Dvorkin highlights the value of
using song and improvisation for dialogue and, in a later paper (Austin and
Dvorkin,1998), also discusses resistance in music therapy which is typical of the
work with adolescents and has been reported by other music therapists (Behrends,
1983; Mark,1986).
Teenagers in a hospital setting often respond well to the use of guided imagery to
distract them from painful procedures (Lorenzato, 2005) which is accredited to their
openness and willingness to try new things, unlike some younger children. In a
hospice setting, Eaves (2005) describes the use of, and need for, music technology in
sessions with adolescent boys with muscular dystrophy and considers ‘there isn’t
anything that is so accessible and ‘cool’ that also meets teenagers’ needs for support
to express themselves…’ (p.109).
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