Music as Co-Therapist: Towards a Taxonomy of Music in Therapeutic Music and Imagery Work

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margareta Wärja ◽  
Lars Ole Bonde

In receptive music therapy, music listening is used as a therapeutic medium in many different ways. The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is a specific receptive music therapy model where the client or patient listens to selected classical music in an expanded state of consciousness in an ongoing dialogue with the therapist, facilitating symbolic and metaphorical imagery in many modalities. In this model, music is often considered a “co-therapist”, and more than 100 music programs are used to address specific issues and problems. However, no classification of the music used in GIM exists. This article presents a matrix with 3 major categories: 1) Supportive music – 2) Mixed supportive and challenging music – 3) Challenging music, with three subcategories within each category. Based on a review of literature related to music listening in music and medicine the taxonomy is introduced and its relevance for the Bonny Method discussed, with special focus on two adaptations: KMR-Brief Music Journeys and Group Music and Imagery (GrpMI). Vignettes from KMR with one individual cancer patient and from GrpMI sessions with psychiatric patients are presented and related to the taxonomy.

Author(s):  
Denise Grocke

Listening to music is an everyday experience for most people. In music therapy music listening can be used to support many therapeutic goals. This chapter presents an overview of methods used in receptive music therapy that are supported by research literature, including music-assisted relaxation, music and imagery, and Guided Imagery and Music (Bonny Method). Salient features of each approach are outlined and supported with evidence-based research. Elements of music used in relaxation and imagery are discussed in some further depth to highlight the need for greater transparency when reporting the effect of recorded and live music in receptive music therapy.


Author(s):  
Lars Ole Bonde

Lars Ole Bonde considers musical imagery in the context of music therapy sessions and focuses on the Bonny Method of guided imagery and music as a well-documented example of music imagery. While Bonde mainly focuses on listening in clinical settings, he argues that imagery listening should be seen as a health resource in everyday listening settings. Taking in perspectives from neuroaffective theory, Bonde analyzes clinical material and evidence from the analysis of EEG data and shows how music therapy theory—as a specific tradition within musicology—can contribute to research in music listening through a greater understanding of multimodal imagery in such listening.


Author(s):  
Sumi Paik-Maier

The Supportive Music and Imagery Method is derived from the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). It uses one piece of pre-recorded music that is short and simple in all musical elements and non-classical music is often used.It aims at enhancing one’s ego by supporting one’s positive resource rather than exploring problems and issues. It is containing and highly structured compared to BMGIM and it focuses on the here-and-now.I will introduce how the SMI method is conducted by illustrating a few case examples supervised by me and conducted by graduates and trainees of the Music and Imagery training in Korea.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-74
Author(s):  
Hallgjerd Aksnes ◽  
Even Ruud

In the receptive music-therapeutical method BMGIM (The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music) the client listens to a specifically selected program of classical music in a deeply relaxed state, whilst reporting his/her concomitant musical imagery to the music therapist. The imagery (or travel) reported by the client (traveler) serves as point of departure for the therapeutic process, as mediated by the therapist (guide). The purpose of this study is to investigate possible relations between structural features of the musical selections, and the imagery that may arise during a BMGIM session. It was assumed that such an investigation might also contribute to our general understanding of musical meaning −1 more precisely, how meaning is produced through our interaction with specific musical structures. Furthermore, if it is possible to trace any relations between structural features and concomitant images, a deeper understanding of these relations might also be helpful in the programming (selection) of musical pieces for the BMGIM session. In the research project to which we refer in this article, a new program, Soundscapes, was designed. The program has several aims: Firstly, we wished to create a BMGIM program based upon more local traditions within the European classical canon; in this case, Norwegian music with a distinctly “national” flavor (see Aksnes and Ruud, 2006). Secondly, we wished to investigate whether it was possible to demonstrate a link between musical structures and the musical images resulting from the embodied perceptions of these structures. Here we will focus upon the first piece of the program, which was analyzed in cognitive semantic terms, the analysis being subsequently compared with the transcriptions of nine BMGIM sessions. In the analysis the well-balanced and “floating” character of the music was understood in terms of amodal, body-based schemata that are operative within music cognition. In the subsequent comparison with the reported travels, it was concluded that the schemata evoked by the music afforded a sensation of being held and carried by the music.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S519-S519
Author(s):  
V. Giannouli ◽  
N. Syrmos

IntroductionAlthough there is an augmenting interest for the applications of classical music in psychiatry, traditional folk music is not properly highlighted in the literature.ObjectiveIn this paper, we examine the possible benefits that psychiatric patients who attend music therapy in psychiatric settings may have when traditional folk music and/or classical music are used in the process of rehabilitation.MethodA literature search of the electronic databases was performed to identify relevant studies published before June 2015.ResultsA meta-analysis of the existing research revealed the positive influence of passive and active music listening on different groups of neurological and psychiatric patients’ anxiety, pain, tension and stress, and a series of cognitive and emotional changes that occur due to music interventions on patients and doctors alike. A general finding from the 700 diverse retrieved articles is that classical music has a positive influence on psychiatric patients. In contrast to that, there is scarce research for traditional music in psychiatric settings.ConclusionsMusic has a strong influence on psychiatric patients. Future research should focus on different questions such as how the knowledge of the varieties of the different types of (folk) music can enrich the music therapy in psychiatric settings.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Annie Heiderscheit

This article explores the use of music and imagery in the music therapy literature beyond the scope of The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), or solely its use in music and imagery for relaxation. The majority of music therapy literature exploring the use of music and imagery is specific to the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music and linked to the practice of utilizing music and imagery for relaxation. Through reviewing music therapy literature that identifies how music and imagery are embedded in other music therapy methods, this article will incorporate clinical case illustrations from the author’s clinical practice that further demonstrate how the use of music and imagery are utilized in other music therapy methods. These clinical case illustrations include explorations of the use of music and imagery in group music therapy sessions, exemplifying its use in discussion and improvisation. Keywords: music, imagery, clinical practiceGermanMusic and Imagery in der klinischen musiktherapeutischen PraxisAnnie HeiderscheidtDieser Artikel untersucht, wie Music and Imagery in der musiktherapeutischen Literatur jenseits der Bonny Methode der Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) angewendet wird, oder alsalleinige Verwendung zur Entspannung. Die Mehrzahl der Musiktherapie-Literatur, die die Verwendung von Music and Imagery untersucht, ist besonders verbunden mit GIM und der Praxis, Music and Imagery zur Entspannung einzusetzen. Im Zuge der Durchsicht der Musiktherapie-Literatur, die beschreibt, wie Music and Imagery in andere musiktherapeutische Methoden eingebunden ist, fügt dieser Artikel klinische Fallstudien aus der Arbeit der Autorin ein, die darüber hinaus zeigen sollen, wie Music and Imagery in anderen musiktherapeutischenMethoden eingesetzt wird. Diese klinischen Fallstudien untersuchen Music and Imagery in Gruppenmusiktherapiesitzungen, wobei ihre Verwendung mit Hilfe von Diskussionen und Improvisationen veranschaulicht wird.Keywords: Musik, Imagery, klinische Praxis Japanese音楽療法臨床における音楽とイメージの統合要旨本稿は、 ボニー式GIMの領域を超えた音楽とイメージの使用について、もしくは単に音楽とイメージをリラクゼーションに使用した音楽療法文献について調査している。大多数の音楽とイメージを使用についての音楽療法文献が、ボニー式GIMに特化して調査されたものであり、音楽とイメージをリラクゼーションのために使用した臨床に関連している。音楽療法文献を再調査することを通して音楽とイメージがどのように他の音楽療法メソッドに取り組まれているかを見極め、音楽とイメージの使用がどのように他の音楽療法メソッドにおいて取り扱われているか実際に行われた著者の臨床からの例を取り入れる。これらの臨床例は集団音楽療法セッションにおける音楽とイメージの使用の解説を含み、ディスカッションと即興における使用について例示する。 キーワード:音楽、イメージ、臨床Chinese本文探討了音樂治療文獻中音樂與意象的使用,包括邦尼式引導想像音樂治療法(GIM)的範疇,或僅以音樂與意象用在放鬆上。大多數探討音樂與意象的音樂治療文獻都限定在邦尼式引導想像音樂治療法,並與運用此方法輔助放鬆做連結。透過文獻回顧並定義音樂與意象如何融入其他音樂治療方法,本文結合了作者的臨床案例經驗進一步闡述音樂引導意象能如何被應用於其他音樂治療方法。這些臨床案例演示探討了音樂引導意象方法在音樂治療團體中的運用,並舉例說明此方法在討論與即興中的使用。Korean1. 음악 치료 임상 현장을 위한 음악과 심상의 통합적용Annie Heiderscheit초록본 연구는 음악 치료 문헌에서 음악과 심상이 유도된 심상과 음악 기법(GIM), 또는 이완(relaxation)을 위한 활용을 넘어 어떻게 활용되고 있는지를 탐구한다. 음악과 심상의 적용을 조사한 음악 치료 문헌들은 대부분 Bonny 에 의해 개발된 유도된 심상과 음악, 또는 이완을 위해 음악과 심상을 활용한 경우로 국한되어 왔다. 음악과 심상이 그 외의 다른 음악 치료 현장에서 어떻게 적용되었는지 확인하기 위해 본 연구는 음악 치료 문헌들을 검토하고, 저자의 임상사례들을 통합하며 음악과 심상 사용이 다른 음악 치료 기법에서 어떻게 활용되는가를 알아보고자 한다. 본 연구에 포함된 임상 사례는 집단 음악 치료 세션에서 음악과 심상을 사용하는 것에 대한 조사가 포함되며, 대화(토론)와 즉흥 연주에서 음악과 심상을 활용하는 예시를 제시한다.  키워드: 음악, 심상, 임상현장


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Andrea McGraw Hunt

 Abstract This article, Part I of II, describes the rationale and background literature of an investigation into a music and imagery (GIM) experience modeled upon the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music[1]. This investigation aimed to obtain an integrated description of participants’ subjective experiences and electroencephalographic (EEG) responses during the GIM session in order to gain understanding into the integrated neuronal and experiential demands of imaginal listening to music while in an altered state of consciousness (ASC). Neuroscience research has demonstrated the utility of EEG for investigating neuronal responses during ASCs, imagery, and music experiences. Additionally, several phenomenological studies have provided insight into the value and nature of client imagery in GIM contexts. Given evidence of both psychological and physiological benefits of the Bonny Method, and given the ever-growing neuroscience literature relating to phenomena occurring in GIM, there are likely relationships between participants’ imagery experiences and their brain behavior during a GIM session. This foundation justifies the use of neurophenomenology as a means of integrating individual participants’ EEG traces with their descriptions of their imagery experiences during a GIM session in order to obtain a description of the relationships between their subjective and neuronal phenomena.  Keywords: Bonny Method, Guided Imagery and Music, neurophenomenology,                    EEG, Neuroimaging.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Kayla Daly

Within the framework of qualitative inquiry, Nicki Cohen sets out to present an intimate exploration of four advanced methods of music therapy practice. Posing a series of several questions to four experts Cohen concisely presents each method’s initial development, how it has adapted over time to current practice, and finally, what the future of the method may become as it pertains to the field of music therapy. She presents her own journey in achieving advanced competency and the personal journeys of each founding person of the respective methods. The book is a gentle call for educators to inspire student exploration of their own intrapersonal relationships with music and how this exploration may influence the pursuance of advanced method training.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document