Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemExploring How Music Therapists Describe Constructing Safety with Young People with Adverse or Traumatic Experiences( 2023-05)Abstract This thesis is an investigation of safety and music therapy in the context of trauma. Herman (2015) describes safety as one of the critical and foremost elements in trauma care. However, there exists little research exploring the importance of safety and inspecting the role of music and music therapy in assisting the creation of safety, as evidenced from the results of the Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS). It highlights the need for empirical research into strategies that music therapists engage to create safety. The present qualitative study engaged hermeneutic phenomenology to reveal insights from eighteen experienced music therapists from eleven countries volunteering to participate in the project. Each of the participants have had between 7 and 35 years of experience working with diverse scenarios within the field of trauma. Online zoom interviews were conducted to capture participants' perspectives on safety and their experiences of providing safety in their programs. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith et al., 2009) was used to process the interview transcriptions. Participants shared their detailed and insightful knowledge into music therapy and creating safety, which resulted in identifying five emergent themes: safety space, semi-structured program, gentle and respectful facilitation strategies, regular supervision and self-care, and methods used in the program. Safety seems to be a concept that promotes containment and connection through offering control and choice making, negotiation and communication, and providing opportunities for self-expression and self-exploration. Incorporating these findings with relevant literature, I have constructed the concept of a music therapy container, to help music therapists working with traumatised young people to understand how to provide safety in the program. The container includes the five refined components: a safe room; familiarity and predictability; choice-making and control; the therapist's personal qualities; and musical affordances. Each of the components contribute to the creation of physical, environmental, and psychological safety in the program. Importantly, music therapy facilitated with caution affords a space without judgement, a sense of equality and safety for individual expression even within such a complex and unpredictable context. Without forcing individuals, nor focusing only on trauma, the creation of safety in music therapy sessions seems to afford young trauma survivors and therapists alike a container for being and responding. The participants shared similar views on a few crucial elements that promote this connection: being flexible, going with the flow, and taking a client-centred approach. The flexibility that the participants provide creates room for self-exploration and feelings of safety by the individuals. Music therapy can offer a space of respite, relaxation and security, coupled with experiences that may enable individuals to have a broader container for their trauma and assist in self-regulation. Therefore, gaining fundamental tools to assist the therapists connect and engage with individuals can increase the feeling of calmness and perhaps feeling more stable and safer in the program and beyond.