The Need for Autonomy and the Nature of Doing, - about Men in Music Therapy
 

Authors:

Charlotte Lindvang & Britta Frederiksen

Abstract:
Often Music Therapy is related to a feminine perspective on treatment, which can be due to the communicative qualities and close connection to the feelings, that music can offer, - and it is also a fact that most music therapists are women. But it is not often that music therapy is investigated or discussed in relation to a gender perspective. In this paper we will focus on our experiences with male clients in music therapy in psychiatry. We will describe those challenges that are related to the treatment of men in psychotherapy in general; to start a psychotherapeutic treatment, to create a lasting alliance and to create an environment where men can express themselves and work with their feelings. We would like to discuss the possibilities that the music therapist has got in order to meet these challenges. We will focus on the specific way that the music therapist can put (her)-self into play and on the concrete music therapeutic methods to be used.
In our practice in psychiatry it is our experience that an almost equal amount of men and woman are treated in music therapy, and that they are equally motivated. Many male clients experience that it is meaningful to use the music inside a therapeutic context. This we would like to illustrate and discuss by presenting case-material and musical examples.

Keywords:

psychiatry, gender perspective, male clients, motivation, methods
 

Biographical details:
Charlotte Lindvang:
Educated as music therapist from Aalborg University in1997. Employed from 1997 at Aalborg University as teacher and later as examiner. 8 years of experience as music therapist in psychiatry. Ph.D-stipendiate from August 2005.

Britta Frederiksen:
Nurse. Educated as music therapist from Aalborg University in1997. 15 years of experience from working in psychiatry. Music therapy with children/grown ups with autism. Brain injuries and developmental handicaps. Private clinic from July 2006.