Gentling the Bull: Harnessing Anti-Group Forces in Music Therapy Group Work with Adults with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This paper aims to examine music therapy group work with adults with learning disabilities, with a particular focus on the musical manifestations of the ‘anti-group‘ (Nitsun 1996) forces. Anti-group is a concept formulated by the group analyst Morris Nitsun in order to describe the destructive aspects of groups that threaten their integrity and therapeutic development. To illustrate the working of anti-group forces in a music therapy group setting, I will also present a case study of a slow open music therapy group which I ran for 3 years in an NHS clinic for adults with learning disabilities. Finally I will try to illustrate how recognising, confronting and harnessing the forces of the anti-group (firstly by the therapist and then by the group members) provided the group with opportunities for growth and creativity, in particular in the way the members related to each other musically.