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

Besides the changes which are automatically produced
in our autonomic nervous system, some experiments
have shown that music generates changes in the state
of spirit, cognition and conduct (Kenealy, 1988; Martin,
1990).
This study analyzes the first empiric data on the
incidence of certain aesthetic elements on interior
states of spirit and in cognitive restructuralization. To
this end we have carried out an experimental design
which, based on the theory of Vygotski (1929),
contemplates the possibility that stimuli with positive
and negative affective charges, simultaneously brought
up, would produce a catharsis in the sense of a greater
cognitive and creative wealth. This research is one of
the first attempts to operate on an aesthetic element,
such as music, in order to discover composition and
relevant elements of art.
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D R E A M S , P L A Y I N G A N D M U S I C / S U E Ñ O S ,
J U E G O Y M Ú S I C A
JOS DE BACKER & JAN VAN CAMP
A closer examination is being made from the point of
view of pychodynamic work and thought of the various
analogies between musical utterances and dreams. In
free musical improvisations one can touch similar
mechanisms as in dreams. Just as with dreams, musical
utterances in free improvisations are therapeutically
interpreted within a field of associations. In this
document, musical expression is also related to normal
child's play. As an introduction is given for a first
symbolism in child's play, so too, musical utterances
can be seen as a kind of symbolic system, a field of