Narrativ musikkterapi: Om å omskrive livshistorier i musikkterapien

Abstract

Denne oppgåva utforskar bruk av livshistoriene til klientane for å fremje helse i musikkterapien. Gjennom å knytte bruk av livshistorier i ein musikalsk kontekst opp mot narrativ terapi, har det kome fram fleire interessante koplingar. Gjennom kvalitative forskingsintervju med tre informantar og analysar av ei rekkje ulike artiklar, har det mellom anna vist seg at produkta som kjem ut av musikkterapien som følgje av arbeid med livshistoriene til klientane kan nyttast som ein ressurs på fleire ulike måtar. Eit anna sentralt tema er også korleis informantane og litteraturen forheldt seg til den sokalla tidsaksen. I teksten ser eg nærare på kva som vert sagt og skreve kring kva del av tidsaksen - fortid, notid eller framtid - som vert beskrive som viktige arbeidsområde når ein jobbar med klientane sine livshistorier. Analysane mine visar at alle desse punkta truleg er like viktige, fordi dei heng tett saman med kvarandre. Oppgåva konkluderer med at livshistoriene til klientane kan nyttast som ein ressurs for dei på mange ulike måtar, og at narrativ terapi ser ut til å eigne seg bra til å ramme inn dette arbeidet.

In this project my goal was to have a look into how ones own life stories can be used as a resource to promote health in music therapy, through creativity and reflection. Songwriting is a commom way to work on these issues in music therapy. However, since songwriting doesn`t necessarily appeal to all clients, I wanted to explore how we can work on the clients` life stories in other ways than through songwriting, while still keeping to a musical context. Narrative therapy seemed to form a natural base for this exploration. In my thesis I am trying too look at how a narrative way of working could be combined with music therapy, and how the life stories of the clients could be used as the tool for this work. I conducted qualitative interviews of three music therapists who all had the combination of long-term clinical experience and a high-level academic background. I addition to this, I also collected what I could find of litterature on musical activities based around the combination of life stories and elements from narrative therapy, or musical activities based around life stories that presented other ways of working that through songwriting. My analysis showed that life stories can be used to create various types of products that can be used as a resource for the clients in music therapy in many quite different ways. I also found that the life stories of the clients can have a cyclic effect. First, the life stories are used to create products that can be used as a resource inside og outside the therapy situation in various ways. By using these products contructively the clients also start writing their future life stories, which in turn can be used to create additional products. My findings also emphasize the importance of reflecting around which part of the time axis on the clients life stories one should work with. My analysis suggests that past, present and future all are equally important, and that this choice should be the result of careful consideration in each and every case. Ideas from narrative therapy in music therapy seem to form a potential way of creating structure and system to both the gathering or creation of methods, the actual execution of these methods and for setting the goals for these methods.