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Abstract

In this essay I will explore aspects of transgenerational transferences from clinical, sociological, political and personal perspectives. Transgenerational interactions contain the unconscious transferences of patterns of behaviour, experiences and emotions to the subsequent generations of a family system. These transferences are symbolically returned to the original persons involved during the therapeutic process.

Aside from transgenerational transferences within the family context we also see collective psycho-traumatic experiences like war, expulsion, mass murder, mass rape, and starvation. The “emotional anaesthesia” of the affected person often leads to dissociations and unconscious repetition of psycho traumatic symptoms by descendants in the same family.

Through case material I detail how and in what ways both the music therapy and the music therapist can be part of a process that is essentially one of connecting with a humanity that lies in all of us. Theoretical contexts for this include reference to systemic work and the ideas of C. G. Jung that are incorporated into music psychotherapy technique and practice.

The style of the essay is less formal than that of an article and stems from the original keynote presentation that this is based on, as well as my approach to the material. It is intended to provoke thought about work with those traumatized that reminds us of the connections between the individual and their society.

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Transgenerational Interactions in Music Therapy

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