Who's the boss?: A case study that explores the course of the music therapeutic relationship, between client and music therapist, in improvisational music therapy.
Author
Andersen, Anne Cathrine Hulthin
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2015
Submitted on
2015-05-31
Pages
52
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger et forløb i musikterapi med en 4-årig dreng med autismespektrumforstyrrelse (ASF). Det er et enkeltcasestudie, der skal udvide forståelsen af den musikterapeutiske relation. Der anvendes kvalitative tilgange inspireret af hermeneutik (fortolkning af mening) og fænomenologi (studiet af oplevede erfaringer). Afhandlingen gennemgår litteratur om børn med ASF og nyere interventioner, der anbefaler en barnestyret tilgang, hvor terapeuten følger barnets initiativer. Derudover beskriver jeg, hvordan jeg tilpassede en barnestyret tilgang i improvisatorisk musikterapi med støtte i litteratur om en teori om at "komme videre sammen" i psykoterapi, kaldet forhandling, hvor terapeut og barn justerer sig til hinanden. Gennem mikroanalyser (detaljerede øjeblik-for-øjeblik-gennemgange) undersøgte jeg, hvordan samspillet mellem barnestyre og forhandling udfoldede sig i dette forløb. Jeg fandt, at jeg løbende skiftede mellem at følge barnet og at forhandle retning. Analysen og fortolkningen nuancerede min forståelse af barnets kommunikative og sociale evner, og transskriptioner viste, hvordan selv meget små interaktioner og fragmenterede møder kan give mening og bidrage til den musikterapeutiske relation.
This thesis examines a course of music therapy with a 4-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is a single-case study aimed at deepening understanding of the therapeutic relationship in music therapy. Qualitative approaches informed by hermeneutics (interpreting meaning) and phenomenology (studying lived experience) were used. The thesis reviews literature on children with ASD and newer interventions that advocate a child-led approach, where the therapist follows the child’s lead. It also describes how I adapted a child-led approach in improvisational music therapy, drawing on literature about a psychotherapy idea of "moving along," called negotiation, in which therapist and child adjust to each other. Through micro-analyses (close, moment-by-moment examination) of sessions, I explored how the balance between child-led and negotiated work played out in this case. I found that I continuously shifted between following the child and negotiating direction. The analysis and interpretation refined my understanding of the child’s communicative and social abilities, and the transcripts illustrated how even very small, fragmentary moments can carry meaning and contribute to the music therapy relationship.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]