Chaos,Noise and a Wall of Silence: Working with Primitive Affects in Psychodynamic Group Music Therapy

Abstract

This article explores the efficacy of weekly psychodynamic group music therapy with those with chronic mental illness in a Therapeutic Community setting. An exploration of the author's general theoretical standpoint acts as the context for a discussion of the group in question and the specific approach that has evolved over four years' work. The group's use of the music therapy process is examined in the light of a single session, and its underlying processes are further explored in relation to Wilfred Bion's theory of K and minus K (Bion 1967). The music therapy is viewed essentially as providing a space for emotional communication and resonance to a group whose members are all severely isolated, silent and cut off.