“The Dying Dragon”
Psychodynamic Music Therapy in Traumatized Adolescents with Depression
 

Author:

Maarit Havanto, M.Ed

Abstract:
In my work as a teacher and as a music therapist with traumatized children and adolescents, I have noticed that they have an insecure working model, as described in the attachment theory.
This presentation is a description of the music therapy process with adolescents participating into a music therapy group. The group was a research group with two music therapists, each of them conducting their own research in the group with a different approach.The group was a part of an early intervention program for adolescents. Four of the group’s female participants had similar features: depression, their families having connections to child protection authorities, and multiple difficulties at school. My doctoral thesis is an ethnographic case study about psychodynamic music therapy process in traumatized adolescents with depression. The ethnographical research method acknowledges the mutual interaction between a theory and empiricism, in other words the observations which are done, are related to some specific theoretical viewpoint. Being there is a key concept in the role of a researcher.

“The Dying Dragon” is the name of a painting that came about while listening to music in the music therapy group. The girl who painted it wrote: "People have wounded the dragon, shooting arrows into it. After the dragon fell down, the people broke its wings and left it languishing.” In my view, this is a description of the group with traumatized adolescents, where the biggest challenge was to establish a trusting relationship. In this group, trust was a rather fragile and difficult issue. Psychodynamic music therapy can contribute to the re-establishment of the attachment relationship. Hence, the key words of a succesful therapy are inner motivation and ability to self-reflection.

Keywords: adolescent, trauma, psychological symptoms, psychodynamic music therapy, attachment theory
 

Biografical details

Maarit Havanto, M.Ed, is a music therapist and a teacher. Currently she is working as a special class teacher and as a music therapist with emotionally disturbed children with multiple difficulties in learning. She works also as a trainer in music therapy training program in Finland. She is doing her doctoral thesis at the University of Jyväskylä.