E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Turry, Alan: Performance and Product ....
awareness to the therapist the many dynamics that might come into play.
The masters program in music therapy at New York University developed by
Barbara Hesser helped to pioneer music psychotherapy, and product
oriented activities were understood as part of a supportive approach to
music therapy, rather than the deeper levels of reeducative or
reconstructive music therapy. Therapists began to question the benefits of
performance. The rationale behind performance was looked at closely, and
often was seen as impeding the clients need for self expression which would
not be judged aesthetically by an audience, but was important in and of
itself for the clients self discovery and emotional contact to the therapist. It
was seen as valuable for the client, rather than looking for external
validation by performing, to discover meaning and worth based on looking
within. Self-reflection, rather than public acknowledgement, was
encouraged.
Personal Experience
In 1979, as I began my experiences at Bellevue hospital,
performances were done with both psychiatric adolescents and adults. The
process was often difficult, and there were times when the client was
unable to follow through on the performance. The therapist, aware of the
dynamics inherent in music psychotherapy as an approach, was careful to
guide the process and see it as a step in the clients overall treatment.
Clients could easily sabotage their own performance due to a lack of self
esteem and the inability to face up to the challenge of performing.
Performance was seen as a part of, not the end product, of the music
therapy process. For some clients, the challenge of working towards a public
performance was similar to Campbell's description of "The Hero's journey".
By focusing and disciplining himself, the client was able to face his fears and
play music publicly, and the experience left him feeling better about
himself.
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