Am I a Therapist First or a Musician?

I’m two-thirds of the way through reading Ken Aigen’s 2013 book The Study of Music Therapy: Current Issues and Concepts. It’s been sitting on my shelf for almost a year, now, as I made myself focus solely on chipping away at my dissertation and completing first year of teaching. Now that both of those are checked off the proverbial to-do list, it’s  time to dust off the non-dissertation-related literature…

Aigen’s text is thought-provoking and is providing me with a deeper understanding of areas of practice in which I have a superficial understanding—music-centered practice, Community Music Therapy, psychoanalytic views, etc. Although I don’t agree with all his points (fodder for future posts, perhaps), his arguments are provocative and stimulating for those interested in more theoretical and philosophical discourse (a perfect space in which to be for this newly minted PhD).

I told myself I wouldn’t blog about his book until I had read it in its entirety, but inspiration struck this morning, so the writing must follow.

Early in the book, Aigen explores the identity of the music therapist and asks the reader to consider whether he or she works as a “musician who does therapy” or a “therapist who uses music” (pg. 30). In other words, are you a musician first, or a therapist?

When I first read the chapter, I thought to myself that I am the therapist who uses music. Why? Well, I’ve had plenty of clinical experiences in which this has been true. Take rehabilitation, for example. I this context I commonly “use music” as a stimulus for entrainment targeted towards motor-based treatment goals. Then there are the more mental health-focused groups in which I commonly facilitate primarily verbal processing-based song discussion experiences.

Furthermore, I made the assumption that the “musician” in this case is the one who approaches his or her work from an improvisational, performance-level stance. I don’t jam, I don’t gig, I don’t play professionally, and (although I do seek opportunities to nurture my musical self) I do not practice my music skills as much as I should. Given all this, I thought that surely I am the therapist who uses music.

But as I reflected, I realized this wasn’t entirely the case. I am not simply a “therapist who uses music.” Once I removed the assumption about what the “musician” looks like (improvisational, professional-style playing), I realized that there are plenty of times in which the musician in me is the one actively engaged, particularly in those situations in which I’m musically responsive and reflective in order to meet client needs moment-to-moment. For example, in my work with trauma-influenced children, the “therapist” in me emerged primarily to provide behavioral cues and prompts and to structure the environment for success. But the “real therapy” occurred through the music experiences in which the children and I were engaged. I wasn’t “using” music in these sessions, but rather facilitating experiences designed for musical engagement and connection.

So with my views shifting I wonder—does it have to be either-or? Do you have to be either the “therapist who uses music” or the “musician who does therapy”? Why can they not be context-dependent? There are clinical situations in which it may be more appropriate for me to approach the work primarily as a therapist, but others in which it’s more appropriate for me to be the musician first.

As I’m writing this post, I realize, too, that my personal preference is to be the musician first. The times in which I approach a session as a therapist first are based either on setting demands (either of the facility or the norms of a particular group) or are based on client preference (i.e., the client seems to want to talk and my role is to be the listener). But ultimately the music and the interactive music experience is where the real work happens and my role is the be its facilitator, to provide the opportunity for the client to engage, grow, and change.

Readers…what do you think? And how to you approach your work?

Tagged as: function of music, music therapist, Music Therapy, theoretical framework