Analytical Music Therapy

Analytical Music Therapy (AMT) is an approach to music therapy developed by Mary Priestley in the early 1970's in England. Priestley characterizes AMT as the analytically-informed symbolic use of improvised music by the therapist and client. Music is used as a creative tool with which to explore the client's inner life, so as to provide the way for greater self-knowledge and growth.

AMT is influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. In the AMT approach, the relationship between therapist and client is an integral part of the therapeutic process. Aspects of the relationship, such as transference, counter-transference, and resistance are identified to foster client insight and client growth. Music plays the primary role in establishing the therapeutic relationship. Both the music therapist and the music are used in therapy to facilitate the client's exploration of fundamental relationships, situations, life patterns, as well as specific current issues. Therefore, musical and verbal processes are equally important in evoking the client's thoughts, feelings and memories. In addition, since the therapeutic medium is music, children or verbally limited clients can also benefit from AMT by working on a preverbal level without much verbal processing. Children's musical playing is healing, in itself. Especially for children, their imagination expressed through music easily accesses the conscious and unconscious mind.

AMT goals are to identify issues underlying the difficulties that bring the client to therapy, to therapeutically work through dysfunctional patterns of the past, to strengthen the client's ego, and to reconstruct new patterns of interaction of the client. The aim is to bring about harmony of mind, body and spirit, as well as to reconnect the client his/her creativity. Specifically, in each session, the therapist and client identify specific therapy themes and goals, play music - either improvised or pre-composed music - and/or listen to music and/or discuss music. The therapist facilitates the client's playing by simultaneously creating music around the client's musical responses. At times, the therapist closely listens to the music that the client is making; the therapist and client identify and analyze the verbal and musical processes. Several techniques are used for probing the conscious, accessing the unconscious, and for ego-strengthening, such as emotional investigation, dream work, reality rehearsals, and exploring relationships. (Audio-taping or video-taping can be used to analyze the sessions.)

AMT is inclusive in its nature. It is a most effective tool for individuals who wish to gain personal insight, as well as those who wish to improve interpersonal relationships and enhance identity development. For both adults and children, AMT expresses the individual self, one's culture, and one's life as whole.

Analytical Music Therapy requires the therapist to go through a systematic program of advanced clinical training. It is a selective postmaster's program, usually spanning two years. It entails clinical training in techniques and strategies, the conduct of actual therapy, case studies, individual and group supervision, the study of psychology, as well as the experience of going through an Analytical Music Therapy, oneself. The ultimate goal is to experience the integration of "musical, verbal, relational, aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, psychological and spiritual content into [the analytical music therapist's] being, and hence, into the clinical work."

Stage 1: Initial Experience of Analytical Music Therapy
The trainee undergoes individual and group music therapy sessions, conducted by the analytical music therapy supervisor. The duration of this stage will depend upon the student therapist's understanding of himself and the therapeutic process.

Stage 2: Intertherapy
The student therapist is paired with another student therapist for a minimum of 12 sessions. They each take the role of the therapist and the client. The sessions are observed, critiqued, and analyzed by the analytical music therapy supervisor. The student therapists are required to meet personal, technical, artistic, and theoretical competencies. At the end of the stage, the student therapist is required to write what he/she has learned from this process/experience about AMT and himself/herself.

Stage 3: Individual and Group Supervision
The student therapist undergoes weekly supervision. Cases are discussed and analyzed. Counter-transference is identified, and worked-though musically and verbally. Supervision is initially individual, and then proceeds to a group format. Group supervision consists of 4-5 supervisees. They are encouraged to share their work, and exchange constructive feedback. The supervisor critiques the work, makes suggestions, and uses the actual cases as opportunities to teach further techniques. At the end of this stage, the trainee writes an evaluation of himself and the other trainees. The supervisor evaluates each trainee individually.

After all requirements are completed, the music therapist receives a certificate as an Analytical Music Therapist. Further, following the completion of AMT Training, the AMT Therapist is encouraged to get weekly supervision as an ongoing process.