Music Therapy and Eating Disorders- A Single Case Study about the Sound of Human Needs

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on a music therapy intervention realized many years ago, with a young woman who had the diagnosis of Bulimia Nervosa. The concepts to which I will refer are the concept of resource orientated psychotherapy and the Bernese concept of need adapted -and motivational attunement (Grawe, 1998; Grawe and Grawe-Gerber, 1999; Stucki and Grawe, 2007). I re-viewed one of my cases, Ms. H., following some of the ideas developed by the authors.  I discovered various moments of interest, which made me think in terms of a Need Adapted Music Therapy process. Therefore, in the presentation of the case, besides talking about the patient’s eating disorder I want to point out her basic needs and how she demanded for them to be met symbolically during shared improvisational moments with the music therapist. And even if the therapist did not have the mentioned concepts in her mind at the time, it seems as if patient and therapist met quite often in this kind of “silent space of needs”.