According to the American Music Therapy Association’s website, “Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. After assessing the strengths and needs of each client, the qualified music therapist provides the indicated treatment including creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. . . Music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words.” (What is music therapy?, 2014, paragraph 2).
However, being a reflexive music therapist is different than the standard definition of what constitutes a music therapist, a reflexive music therapist able to adapt and evaluate a client before, in the midst of, and after the music therapy session. Without the evaluation of client goals, asessing what worked well and the things that did not work, it is harder for the client to make progress. A music therapist can accomplish reflexivity by engaging in the following processes: self-observation, self-inquiry, collaboration with clients, consultation with others, and supervision.
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Certain types of integrity are also important in order for the client to progress the way one should. This type of integrity includes both client and method integrity. Goal integrity requires the reflexive music therapist to ask if the goals set for the client are reasonable, appropriate, and able to be achieved through the process of music therapy. In addition to this, the clients’ goals must be relevant, delimited, feasible, and at the appropriate level of specificity. In summary, these four components ensure that clients have the ability and support to reach their individual goals, that the client and therapist are working on the most paramount health needs, and that the timing of achieving specific goals is established so that the client has the greatest chance of goal success.
Choosing the most effective methods to achieve these goals is also essential, this method integrity consisting of improvising, re-creating, composing, and listening to music. Method integrity is also concerned with components such as contraindications and client preferences, which ensures that the client is both comfortbale and challenged by the reflexive music therapist. Support and directiveness are also important here, directiveness defined as the extent to which the music therapist or client leads a music therapist session. Monitoring client progress is also essential.
However, the music therapist is also an important part of the music therapy equation, self-awareness a crucial component of helping a client to improve and grow as much as possible. In order for the reflexive music therapist to be an effective helper, the therapist must know one’s own issues, beliefs, values, and emotional needs. The reflexive music therapist must also be aware of countertransference and try to manage this to the best of one’s ability. As in any healthy relationship, establishing clear cut boundaries is also important, the music therapist needing to not not only empathize with the client, but to also be aware of the propensity to overidentify with a client’s problems at times.
A reflexive music therapist must also adhere to ethical standards, being competent, respecting clients’ rights, following standards of practices, not engaging in inappropriate relationships with clients, and establish the proper fees and engaging in research concerning the client’s treatment.
As you can see, serving as a reflexive music therapist requires one to act with goal and method integrity and to ensure that the client’s needs are the most important part of the music therapy process. A reflexive music therapist should also evaluate a client’s progress at all stages of the therapeutic process. Besides choosing the best music therapy methods, the music therapist must also follow ethical standards, be aware of boundaries, and understand one’s own needs to be an effective reflexive music therapist.
- What is music therapy? (2014). Retrieved from American Music Therapy Association: http://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy/.
