23.7. 1993 Vitoria-Gasteiz / Spain - World Federation of Music Therapy

In order to avoid 'trust problems' the Training music
therapist (TMT) has to be conscious of and to deal with
paradoxes like:
1. Remember/forget
The Training music therapist is the one, who is
supposed to remember the important information the
student brings into the process work and the one who in
a later situation can refer to former information (verbal
or musical), which the TMT imagines has something to
do with the present situation. On the other hand the
TMT must enter at least the individual therapy sessions
with students knowing exactly nothing - thus letting the
student present the knowledge of the present situation.
2. A disciplined way of beiinq present/authentic.
The TMT has to be able to deal consciously with
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transference and countertransference. This means f.i.
that the TMT often must accept to play a specific role to
be able to clear up the meaning of the role, he/she is put
into. In these situations you may compare some of the
work of the TMT with the job of an actor or actress on
the stage - the role must be so convincingly played that
it moves the audience. But as a therapist you must at
the same time be as authentic as possible in the
therapist role - in order to keep the basic trust of the
client. Another paradox concerning this work:
3. Knowledqe/no knowledqe.
In a program where Self experience training is a
compulsory and integrated part of the program you
cannot avoid mixing roles as a TMT. We can avoid it to a
certain extention, f.i. will an individual therapist never be
your later examinator or internal censorship. On the