Music therapy - who needs it?

I was struggling with a group. The problem was that there were only 3 clients in it. If one person didn’t show up, we had a pair. If two didn’t, then it was an individual session, with (in this case) two therapists. This could either feel a bit too intense for the client, or they might enjoy the undivided attention. Either way, it was difficult to maintain the feeling that what we had here was really a ‘group’. So the group needed more members. But did these new members need the group? I let other professionals know that there were spaces available – I could take 3 more people with ease. I had one new referral which I was following up. The group had been running (slow open) for nearly 7 years, with changing personnel, and we’d been here before. However this was the longest period (all of that academic year) during which there had been only 3 regular members, excluding the therapists. If one person left for good then we’d officially be down to a pair and this would begin to feel tenuous.

So who was ‘helping’ whom? If a new person joined the group I’d be grateful to them for helping keep the group, as an entity, alive. This subverts something about the therapeutic purpose of the group, which is that people were in it because they needed something. This symbiotic relationship shows how groups differ from individual therapy. The group needed its members, and the members (presumably) needed the group. Then the school cancelled the contract very abruptly, but that’s another story.

Individual therapy is different. The client has been referred because of specific needs, and the therapist is hoping to meet them. There is a ‘working alliance’, but the relationship is asymmetrical. However, I’m reminded of a time when I was training, back in 2007, and on a placement in adult mental health. The client was getting curious about me. He asked “Why are you here and not making money playing music? Are you on community service or something, like George Michael?” I mentioned this in supervision, expecting it to elicit a chuckle. Community service – how hilarious! My supervisor looked back at me stony-faced. “That’s a very perceptive question. What is your drugs bust?” My narrative of naïve client and knowing, professional therapist had been subverted. The client had noticed something, which was that I had a reason to be there just as much as he did. An important difference was that he had some idea why he was there, but I was less sure.

Now I’m an experienced professional it’s quite different of course. Through personal psychotherapy I have come to understand my unconscious motives for being a therapist and I can devote myself, unhindered by my own desires or needs, to the needs of the client. Yeah right… During the summer holidays the sessions become less frequent; people go away, the school clinics are not happening. It’s a nice change of pace but it can be a bit dull at times. I like the excitement and drama of sessions; it’s one of the reasons I’m doing this job. I like that, being a therapist, you get to relate to another person in a completely different way. There is the possibility of revelation, of new knowledge, of emotional connection. It’s a privilege, and it’s also, in some respects, a need. As music therapists we have access to fundamental human experiences and to the expression of profundities about the individual every day. It’s a responsibility of course, and it can feel overwhelming. The dangers of secondary trauma shouldn’t be underestimated, and some clients are very difficult to work with. As with being a parent there are lots of sensible reasons not to do it. For us, though, for the moment at least, the benefits must outweigh the drawbacks. I never forget that the client comes first, but I also have to be honest with myself; I’ve chosen to be here too.