An Interview with Susan Summers

By Guylaine Vaillancourt

How did you come to music therapy?

I always find this to be an interesting question. I was living in Calgary in the 80’s and was looking for a career change. I had worked as a teacher with teenagers and also with developmentally delayed adults. I had explored the idea of being a counselor and then heard about music therapy. Canada’s only training program in music therapy was at Capilano College in Vancouver. I happened to be going to Vancouver in the summer of 1985 so arranged to talk to some faculty members. I had always been attracted to Vancouver and thought it would be nice to live there. Since all my previous jobs had been working with people, music therapy was a perfect fit. I moved to Vancouver in 1986, took the training and stayed.

 

How did you get involved with CAMT?

Once I heard about music therapy, I explored how to find out more about music therapy through CAMT. I became a member of CAMT in 1985 and attended the conference in Toronto in 1986. This was before I was a student of music therapy. I remember not knowing anybody, although I remember seeing Nancy McMaster. I attended all the sessions and I was impressed – music therapy still seemed like a great fit with all my previous experience and education.

Upon graduation from Capilano College in 1989, I became a member of the CAMT board. I was involved for nine years in various portfolios. Being on the board was very different then, before internet and email.  On the board, I was Vice-President, I chaired the 1994 CAMT conference which was held in Vancouver, and held other portfolios such as chapter liaison to MTABC.

Who are the main figures/people for you?

The three most important people for me in my personal life were my grandmother, my piano teacher, Mrs. Gertrude Taylor, and my spiritual teacher, Michele Ley. They all loved me unconditionally – I felt heard and valued by them. My grandmother was an artist and my Mom was a musician who played the piano, so I came from a creative family. My grand mother seemed to always have an unconditional ‘Yes’ for me. Mrs. Taylor was the most patient person I have ever known and she gifted me with so much musical background and lifeskills. I worked with Michele Ley for sixteen years. With all these women, I felt loved, heard, acknowledged. They saw the possibility in me. Our relationships were very positive.

There are so many people now who inspire me in music therapy: Carolyn Kenny, Diane Austin, Liz Moffit, Nancy McMaster and Kevin Kirkland. I feel I learn so much from these mentors, as we collaborate and share information to move the profession of music therapy forward. They are very inspiring to me.

 

How do you see the development of music therapy in Canada?

I think one of the biggest changes will occur when government regulation becomes a reality. Being regulated will open the door for recognition and acknowledgement. It will raise the bar for training levels because we will be on par with other professionals. There will be increased public relations and advocacy that comes with regulation.

Music therapists work alone often and we are often geographically isolated. In order to maintain a practice we have to be fiercely independent. We must believe in ourselves, even though no one else might. With regulation, we will have more equal partners and will not feel so isolated.

Another trend I see is partnership with others outside of our profession. Now with the Ontario coalition and the BC Task Group for Counsellor Regulation, we have partners who understand and support music therapy. Partnership has been a mainstay with the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund, who has partnered with the music industry to raise awareness and funds to support music therapy projects. We need to be at the table with others, offering our contributions and receiving what they have to offer.

I believe that regulation will encourage more music therapy jobs in areas that we are not working in to the extent we should be i.e. psychiatry, community and with children. In a post-regulation world, music therapists in Canada will have more ownership of their profession, while being able to share our expertise with others.

What is your definition of music therapy?

Music therapy is an intentional use of music in all the ways music can be used - for healing, for wellness and for improving quality of life. Music therapy involves meaningful relationship between therapists and clients, working together through creativity, to access the wholeness and wellness inside each person. The music inside remains whole and well, despite challenges that can limit physical, cognitive, social and emotional functioning of the individual.

How would you describe your practice and approach?

My clinical practice has been with older adults in long term care, and adults in hospice care. I consider my clinical practice to be based on “song-based improvisation”. In my long-term care work, community music therapy is a strong influence. Songs are my major tools, but every song is sung in a person-centered way – unique for them and appropriate for the moment.

Over the last few years I have combined my music therapy clinical work with my energetic healing practice. This has resulted in my working more with music as a healing modality. With intention and attention, music provides a healing container for a client to “bathe” in. By primarily using voice as the main bridge, my practice offers safety and creativity for a client to explore their own self-expression and improve their quality of life.

What is your personal philosophy of music therapy?

It has changed over my twenty-two years in the field. I believe that we each attract reflections of ourselves through our clinical practice and our life. Other persons reflect parts of us that either need illumination, or else enhance those parts of ourselves that are known. We attract others to us in order to grow and heal, as do our clients. I feel that music therapy gives each of us our “voice” - to be heard, to be acknowledged, and to grow.

 

I also believe that music therapy has the power to inspire. For me, inspiration comes when there is agreement - one plus one equals three. In any session, the relationship is between therapist, client and the music – a powerful and inspiring combination.

What would you think are the main needs of your clientele/population?

With older folks in nursing home, I think their main need is for someone to see them. There is a song that John Prine sings called “Hello in there”. It talks about old people growing lonely - they are waiting that Hello.

 

Even it they are in a body that is old and not well, they still have social and spiritual needs. I think they want someone to be with them, seeing them for who they are. We need not let the system diminish them.

I try my best to be authentic, and be supportive with my clients, seeing beyond the facade, looking deeply in their soul, helping them access nourishment, and enabling them to believe in themselves.

In hospice, being with them at this time of transition, I offer a container of sacred energy, which includes music and spiritual healing.

 

We are always in transition. Being with people everyday, I see the well whole person that still lives within.

What are you main interests in music therapy?

I wear many hats. I have many interests and passions. I love the clinical work and I also love teaching. I love supervising students and interns. I am the representative for music therapy in BC for government regulation and I am currently the President of British Columbia’s provincial association, MTABC. I like to envision, making space for what is next.

One of my joys is to see our students and interns walk out of their training and be excellent music therapists. I have discovered that it is important to me that I make a difference in my profession. I feel I am making a transition from being primarily a clinician to doing more teaching, presenting, writing and research. I have just been invited to submit a chapter to a new book on voice and music therapy, two of my main passions – that is exciting to me and a new opportunity to grow and learn. I enjoy meeting and listening to music therapists, at conferences, World Congresses and at meetings.

With music therapy, I feel I have come home. When I completed my training in 1988, I felt that this community was going to be my community for the rest of my life. Music therapy is my calling, and I feel grateful and blessed that I have found it.

Over my 22 years in this profession, I have had thousands of clients who have gifted me by sharing their lives, stories, and laughter with me. Especially in hospice, in last days of their lives, it is a blessing to share time and music together. I have learned so much from them and it is what has kept me going all those years. It made a difference in my life.

It is very special to have a job that gives you personal and spiritual lessons, and that is so creative. My life path has paralleled my professional life and I have learned many lessons. I am a better person because I have been a music therapist.

During my masters degree training with Carolyn Kenny, she had also introduced us to music therapists from around the world, in person and through their writing. In Washington, DC in 1999, I presented for the first time at the World Congress of Music Therapy, with my colleagues in my peer supervision group. What was so astounding and affirming for me was that, when I walked into any workshop at that Congress, there were talking my language. Many were talking about the bigger picture and it gave me the opportunity to envision what was possible for Canadian music therapy. After that time, the world of music therapy also became my community.

Publications

Arnason, C., Carroll, D., Lauzon, P., Lin, J., Magill, L., Summers, S. (2009, May). Voice and vocal improvisation in music therapy training in Canada. Proceedings from the CAMT conference, Ottawa, ON

Baker, F. & Uhlig, S. (Eds) (2010). The vocal hello space model in hospice music therapy, in The handbook of therapeutic voicework in music therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley (work in process)

Bird, N., Merrill, T., Mohan, H., Summers, S., Woodward, A. (1999). Staying alive in our work: A group's experience in peer supervision. Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, VII, l, 51-67.

Summers, S. (1999). A tapestry of voices: Community building with a geriatric choir reflected in a music therapy model of practice (Unpublished master’s thesis). Open University: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada