In Tsiris’s 2008 article “Aesthetic Experience and Transformation in Music Therapy,” the author discussed Aigen’s idea that aesthetic experiences in music therapy give rise to the processes of transformation that lead to success in music therapy. Reviewing the work of thinkers in aesthetics, humanistic psychology, and music-centered music therapy, Tsiris concluded that aesthetic experience and the transformation it enables are central to successful music therapy. This idea seems completely logical to me as a musician and as a clinician, and I see how this idea applies to my work with clients in multiple settings and situations. Tsiris also pointed out, however, that the aesthetic dimension of music therapy has largely been devalued or ignored by music therapy theorists, researchers, and practitioners, especially as music therapists have struggled to be recognized as legitimate health-care providers. Tsiris suggested that music therapists are beginning to accept the value of the aesthetic dimension of music therapy. If this is so, how do we communicate this value to those outside of music therapy? I will address this question from my perspective as a music therapist in private practice with experience in explaining music therapy to various groups interested in hiring a music therapist.
Perhaps the first question music therapists may need to address is whether aesthetic experience is valuable at all, particularly in health care settings where other needs may take precedence. Music therapists often emphasize these other goals; in fact, I have heard many people define music therapy as, “the use of music to address non-musical goals.” The bulk of our discipline’s objective, quantitative research has focused on how music therapy interventions help with goals that are not apparently related to aesthetics – for example, on decreasing pain perception or improving gait. This is the research that I have shown to administrators and those who may potentially fund music therapy to demonstrate that the methods I use would be effective. I assumed that this is what they would want to see and that they would be concerned primarily with addressing non-musical goals.
In my recent experience, though, it seems that nursing home and hospice administrators, school principals, and parents with whom I have discussed music therapy, have primarily been interested in getting their clients access to meaningful music experiences. For example, I was describing to one nursing home administrator the research demonstrating music therapy’s effectiveness in decreasing agitation and wandering behaviors in older adults with dementia. His response? “I have pills for that. I just think they need some music.” Why was I insisting on the non-musical goals music therapy could address when this administrator was asking me for music? I felt that this administrator did not completely understand what I was offering to his clients, but it was also inaccurate for me to focus solely on the non-musical goals. How could I explain the effectiveness of music therapy in helping people live richer lives without minimizing the music itself?
One explanation we may share with non-music therapists is that music is a medium of experience that has value in itself even while leading to various other outcomes. Aigen (2005) argued that non-musical outcomes cannot be separated from the in-the-moment experience of music, lest music become a mere means to an end. If music were merely a means of achieving a particular outcome, anything – medication, exercise, dietary changes – could be substituted in its place as long as it achieved the same outcome. As a medium of experience, music becomes an end in itself, even as other outcomes are achieved. What does this aesthetic experience mean? As Tsiris (2008) discussed, while engaging in music, clients are connecting sensory and emotional experience. They also enter a relationship with another person or other people that involves co-creation, whether of the music itself, or movement, imagery, visual art, or verbal discussion. This co-creation leads to a shared understanding or value. These ends are made possible through the aesthetic experience in the medium of music. Yes, clients may improve in other goal areas, but without the music itself, the experience would not be as rich.
Non-music therapists may already have an idea of the richness that can come with an aesthetic experience, but they may not understand the music therapist’s role in facilitating a meaningful experience in music that has the potency described above. Why hire a music therapist instead of recruiting a volunteer to lead a sing-along? I think the answer lies in music therapists’ stronger awareness of, and ability to cultivate, the therapeutic relationship through music, especially with clients who have difficulty engaging for some reason. While other musical offerings may provide entertainment, or the beauty based on conventional styles and lack of discordant elements as described by Tsiris (2008), music therapists can help clients engage in musical experiences that involve the sensory and emotional experiences, the co-creation of meaning, and the transformation that aesthetic experiences can provide.
Ultimately, these are the music experiences that we, as music therapists, should work toward providing for our clients. The depth of quality of these music experiences will then be evident for those that may want to hire us.
Aigen, K. (2005). Music-Centered Music Therapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona.
Tsiris, G. (2008). Aesthetic Experience and Transformation in Music Therapy: A Critical Essay. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.voices.no/mainissues/mi40008000286.php