The ongoing life of participant-composed songs within and beyond the clinical setting

Abstract

Participants engaging in music therapy programs may create personally meaningful songs as part of their therapy process. Sometimes these songs are notated and/or recorded so there is a permanent record of the creation for the participant to retain. This study explored clinicians’ reflections on the ongoing life of client-composed songs within and beyond the clinical setting. Forty-five experienced music therapists from 11 countries were interviewed. Grounded theory methods of analysis were employed to elucidate the clinicians’ thought processes. The analysis process generated 40 codes which were grouped into 15 concepts and aligned under three themes: therapist shares songs with participant/s; participants and their song creations; and participant/s share songs with others. The researcher recommends that clinicians carefully consider participants’ individual circumstances, clinical diagnosis, family and social support systems and cognitive capacities when deciding whether to provide them with copies of their songs. Implications for classroom music education are also discussed.