To Structure or not to Structure, That is the Question: Mistakes Made in Music Therapy in Light of the Dilemma Whether or not Therapy Sessions Should be Structured

Abstract

Throughout my 32 years of work as a music therapist, I have wondered whether music therapy sessions should be structured and, if so, how and when to structure them. I was taught to work with clients dynamically, that is, using musical and verbal responses and interventions as the session unfolded, without prior planning. Would structuring sessions stall the therapeutic process? Might it cause clients to avoid expressing themselves? Or would structuring the sessions benefit clients by reducing their anxiety, creating a holding space and increasing their sense of calm, and thus advance the therapeutic process? In the earlier years of my work with clients. I had to rely on my intuition and my supervisor, who tried to help me identify the best approach of working with my clients. In the process, I made mistakes while focusing on the dilemma of whether or not to structure therapy sessions and interventions. In this article I will share some clinical vignettes of mistakes I made myself in my therapy practice, as well as of mistakes made by a student I supervised in her work with a young girl as part of her practicum, and by a music therapist I supervised in his work with elementary-school children. As a result of grappling with this dilemma and through reflection on past errors of this kind, my theoretical orientation has shifted and solidified. I have come to the conclusion that there is a lot to be learnt from making mistakes, and that those mistakes have shaped my therapeutic path.