Searching and Researching as a PhD-Student in Music Therapy How an Idea Becomes a Focus

Journal/Book: Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. 1995; 4: 76-82.

Abstract: In this article I describe the first developmental steps of my own research process as a PhD-student. In my daily life I am working as a music therapist with children in a public school, and in the beginning of the research process I wanted to find out whether there are particular qualities in improvised music with "difficult" children, which could indicate limitations and potentials of pupils more on the level of description. This focus has changed several times in the research process, and the article shows how supervision and discussions in the research milieu has been important in this process. In the concluding section of the article I discuss this with respect to the specific qualities of qualitative research in music therapy, and I suggest that: 1. Concerning the research itself the process with its intrapsychic aspects lying behind the data, theories and results is just as important as the printed-out structure of the written thesis. 2. The conscious or unconscious motivations, emotions and the pre-scientific thoughts have a big influence on the contents, and vice versa. 3. Exchange, dialogue and co-operation (incl. supervision) between researchers is rather necessary, useful and fitting to the particular topics in our research field.

Note: Wolfgang Mahns Dipl. Music Therapist, is working as a music therapist with children in a public school (Integrative Grundschule Fahrenkrön, Hamburg). Mahns is a PhD-student in music therapy at the University of Aalborg. He has written several articles on music therapy. Together with Even Ruud he published (in 1991) the book "Meta-Musiktherapie, Wege zu einer Theorie der Musiktherapie".

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