Finding a pathway through music therapy: Supporting a woman with cerebral palsy to access her community

Abstract

This article considers the experiences and learning of the author during a year-long music therapy trainee placement at a drop-in centre for adults with disabilities. The context and setup of the placement are outlined and the author discusses how his approach was influenced by ideas taken from community music therapy literature. The article then focuses on how music therapy supported Shona, a woman with cerebral palsy, to access her community. The journey of Shona and the trainee Music Therapist is depicted as a joint pathway encompassing individual sessions, group work and performance; insights and reflections from the trainee’s tutors are discussed and the work is conceptualised in three stages. The affordances and limitations of iPad technology (with ‘Thumbjam’ software) are also discussed. The author reflects on the frustration he felt at different stages of this journey, where the advice of his tutors seemed to contradict each other. He concludes that there is no ‘right’ answer, only additional perspectives in a continual process of finding new ways to take the work forward. Shona’s story and her real name are used with her informed consent.