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

cocaine," he said, "but it never appeared! I heard the
music go this way, da-de-da (he hummed a brief
passage), and I would wait for it to happen again. But I
could never see my cocaine or my druggie friends!"
Fascinated by his experience, he said he couldn't wait
until the next session. He added a final, "I'm stunned."
What was taking place in the imagery was an
interruption of his cyclical behavior--get money, buy
drugs, get high, go to work, get more money, buy drugs,
get high. Breaking the cycle on an inner level provided a
strong intervention for getting unstuck from an
entrenched, self-defeating weekly pattern of action.
Bob's symbol was a rock (his cocaine). He saw himself
in a room with a table, and he threw the rock down on
the table. He told with great excitement of how the table
legs started dancing. His drug friends in the room
started dancing, also. The refrigerator in the room
began to dance. Bob opened the refrigerator door and
saw a beer, another of his addictions. He slammed the
623
door shut and ran from the room. When I pointed out the
strength he showed in throwing the rock down and
leaving, he replied emphatically, "I didn't just leave. I
ran."
Several said the music sounded like 18th century music,
as, indeed, it was, and their imagery included seeing
themselves in 18th century scenes, living simpler lives.
All who experienced this imagery expressed a feeling of
peacefulness.
The style of any period of music is the expression of
composers as they react to the political, economic,
artistic, religious and philosophical forces that shape
their environment. The form, structure and manner of
expression of a piece of music connects the listener to
the cultural climate in which it was written. The Baroque
era (1600-1750), during which Bach wrote the
harpsichord concerto, was a time of conflict and, at the
same time, an age of reason. The social turbulence
inherent in the vast gaps between the very wealthy and