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

player should not inform in advance the group about the
music programme and that he will share with the
participants in the group his own associations. In that
way the undesireble element has been avoided. Group
confidence among the members of the group increases
in this way and the contadictions between them become
less.
The main goal which this group-dynamic oriented music
therapy lays before itself is the emotional activation of
the self, making easier the mutual contacts between
the patients and the achievement of intense group
dynamic. These are the principles which are taken in
concideration by the music therapist when choosing the
music programme and the way the sessions are held. In
rare occasiones only, when the group feels itself
overloaded with the rest of the therapeutic forms,
included in the complex programme of treatment,
mainly the psychotropic influence of music has been
used. The sessions have been restricted to listening to
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specially selected for this aim pieces of music which
lead to relaxation and relief. In such cases the time
dovouted to listening to music is about 40 minutes and a
combination of separate compositions is used /mainly
romantic and meditation music/.The sharing concerns
only the feelings which arise while listening and the
conflicts are avoided. Music therapy in our clinic is held
in the hall used also for group psychotherapy. The
patients sit in a circle in comfortable armchairs.There is
a conversation between the therapist and the group
members in the first 10 minutes of the session, the aim
of which is to get in touch with the dominant mood in the
group and to introduse the group into the session, as
well as to help the therapist in his decision what kind of
music he will use. About 20 minutes listening to music
follow the introdusing part the room is slightly obscured
and the therapist is out of the circle performing technical
functions (switching on and off the music, the lights). In
the cases when the psychotropic effect of the music is