E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Turry, Alan: Performance and Product ....
Landy became my friend, partner, and manager. If he and I were
going to collaborate, we had to have equality.
It is obvious that Wilson valued the partnership between he and
Landy. Wilson seems to be saying it was not possible to feel like an equal
with Landy within the therapeutic relationship. It could be that the therapy
relationship became too confusing for Wilson to continue as it was. Landy
felt he had to get involved with all aspects of Wilson's life in order to help
him. It is unclear whether Landy was discussing the implications of his many
roles with Wilson. In the book Wilson describes Landy as an ally, though at
times Landy seems more concerned with the product he was producing with
Wilson then the effect on Wilson as a whole. It might have been intoxicating
for Landy to be working with an artist of Wilson's stature. It is unlikely that
this kind of creative music-making situation had ever arose before for
Landy, a psychotherapist. He was not a professional musician, and may have
had undifferentiated feelings associated with creating music with Brian
Wilson. He was not prepared to enter into the creative process and be an
observer of the process, as music therapists are. As music therapists, we try
to be prepared for these issues to arise. Music is created to be heard by
others, and clients may naturally want to share their music with others. For
music therapists, performance and product can fall within the purview of
the music therapy relationship. We attempt to be able to play while
observing the process-to attend to others even as we create with them in
front of an audience. At times, we need to take actions that may not feel
natural to us, but benefit the client in the long run.
I have been in therapeutic relationships where I established a clear
boundary by encouraging the client to perform with another musician,
rather than with myself as his therapist. This was not easy to do, and I
certainly felt an attachment to the songs and the client. I made the decision
based on what I felt the client needed. This actually helped the client to
take initiative, gain a sense of independence, and attain a strong sense of
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