Where words fail music takes over: A collaborative study by a music therapist and a counselor in the context of cancer care. Special Issue: International music therapy

Author(s): Marston Wyld, Joanna

Journal/Book: Music Therapy Perspectives. 1995; 13: 46-50.

Abstract: An evaluative study was conducted at a center for cancer care (1) to help the music therapist evaluate the contribution of music therapy (MUT) to the center's weekly residential program, and (2) to enable the counselor, as a participant observer, to explore some of the similarities and differences between MUT and counseling. Emphasis is placed on the core qualities that unite the 2 disciplines, the access to and expression of feelings, and the importance of the active use of instruments in MUT. Before and after each MUT session, the counselor invited patients to give words and phrases which described their view of music. The counselor also collected impressions of the processes and effects of the MUT from patients and the music therapist. Music and music- making helped stimulate patients physiologically and psychologically. Results suggest that MUT and counseling have much in common. Implications for practice are discussed.

Note: similarities & differences in processes & effects of music therapy vs counseling; residents in cancer care program & music therapist & counselor as participant observer

Keyword(s): Music therapy; counseling ; neoplasms ; therapeutic processes; adulthood ; interdisciplinary research

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