E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Turry, Alan: Performance and Product ....
Brian Wilson, composer and creative force behind the beach boys,
described his therapy relationship with the psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy in
his book "Wouldn't it be Nice." Wilson was struggling with schizophrenia and
chronic drug use when Landy began working with him. During the course of
therapy, Landy began to write songs with Wilson. Wilson writes, "with Dr
Landy, I worked on "Child, Adult, Parent," a suite that mirrored, in music,
the transitions my own life had undergone. The collaboration was among the
most fascinating I'd ever been engaged in, involving nearly constant analysis
and discussion." Wilson credits Landy with getting his life back together and
helping him rediscover his abilities as a composer. Landy had many roles
with Wilson. He was his executive producer, business manager, and co-
songwriter. Wilson describes Landy as saving his life-"he returned my career
to me." Landy took charge of Wilson's career and co-produced an album with
him. This created controversy. Landy's detractors claimed that Wilson was
brainwashed. Despite Wilson's obvious improvements, the Board of Medical
Quality Assurance of California charged Landy with ethical and licensing
code violations. They stated that during treatment a therapist should not
enter into any nonprofessional relationship with a patient. The charges
implied that Landy took advantage of Wilson. Wilson ponders the situation
this way:
My situation had presented extraordinary circumstances, and Dr
Landy by reputation was an extraordinary therapist-the reason he'd
been contracted originally. At a certain juncture, he was faced with a
dilemma created by the state's canon: Is it ethical to take a patient
to a certain point and then leave him there because the ethics say
not to go any further? Should he depart from his traditional
therapeutic process and enter into another role in which he could
help me or should he not help because of an ethical process? Should
he stop at a certain point because ethics imposed restrictions, or
should he throw ethics to the wind and continue to improve my life?
Dr Landy and I ended our formal doctor-patient relationship. Dr.
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