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

spectrum).
Thirdly I shall present case material of Steven (a 3 year
old when he began music therapy) whose complex
communication difficulties and developmental delay
were later diagnosed as classic 'Kanner' autism. The
case material on audio and video aims to demonstrate
the music therapy process in facilitating Steven's
capacity for emotional communication, and shared,
cooperative play; leading to freeing him from some of
the restrictions of his pathology.
The discussion and interpretation will combine infant
developmental,
perspectives .
psychodynamic
and
musical-dynamic
301
Part I.
The literature on infancy research and mother-infant
interaction (Bruner, Brazelton, Stern, Trevarthen,
Papousek & Papousek, Beebe, etc.) is becoming
increasingly familiar and useful to music therapists. This
domain of psychology investigating the beginnings of
relationship, social interaction and communication,
seems to require the universals of musical form to
provide appropriate, objective description of
human phenomena. Early interaction has been termed
'protoconversation' (Bateson; Trevarthen) or basic
emotional communication, and would seem to be
musical field, a musical spectrum of tone and rhythm,
in which the fluctuations of tonal-rhythmic intensity,
melodic contour, temporal patterns, tempo changes,
motif, use of anacrusis, cadence, and so on, actively
form and maintain inter-subjective states of relationship.
Psychobiologist and infant psychology researcher,