Children accompanying their families through the family violence system are often described through the lens of risk. In contrast, there are minimal narratives that describe the interplay between how children’s existing resources can be enriched through engagement in therapeutic programs. This article describes a collaborative case reflection exploring the experiences and actions of a music therapist (Rebecca Fairchild) and an 11-year-old boy (‘Malakai Mraz’) who was accompanying his mother through the family violence system. Following involvement in short term music therapy, Malakai expressed how receiving a drum machine and learning to play the drums had changed his life. We decided to collaborate in writing this article together to describe our personal reflections about the various stages of our engagement in music therapy together and to explore the range of conditions and resources at play that contributed to Malakai’s growth and development. We will also share a song that was written as part of the collaborative process as a way of providing an arts-based and child-centred representation of our experiences. Critical considerations for writing collaboratively in this way with participants in therapeutic programs will also be discussed.
The possible impacts of family violence on children have been well documented in recent
years (
Children who have been exposed to family violence often develop their inner resources so
that they can cope with the adversities in their lives (
Children who have experienced adversity often identify music as an important resource in
their everyday lives, despite their experiences of transience, violence, or
disadvantage. Engaging in music supports children to tell their stories and express
their emotions in creative ways (
Like many other forms of therapeutic practice, music therapy has traditionally been an
expert-led practice. Thus the therapist typically designs programs that use music to
support the achievement of non-musical goals such as increasing self-esteem, promoting
emotional development, and encouraging the acquisition of communication and social
skills (
Although there is increasing emphasis on client participation and collaboration in music
therapy and across a range of fields that focus on child well-being, there is still a
tendency to emphasise weaknesses when representing children in academic literature
(
The idea for this article emerged from a reflective discussion between Rebecca and Malakai following an 8-week period of involvement in individual music therapy. Malakai (11-years old) expressed how receiving a drum machine and subsequently learning to play the drums in music therapy changed his life. As Malakai reflected on how his life had changed throughout his involvement in music therapy, he said “everything changed when I got those drums.” Malakai’s comment prompted a discussion about how learning to play the drums in music therapy helped him to build upon his engagement in music as well as further develop his musical identity and create a positive outlet for expressing himself. At the time of commencing music therapy, there were a number of other changes happening in his life, such as leaving a family violence refuge, moving house, and changing schools, however he identified that the drums were integral part of his story at this time. After reflecting on this conversation, Rebecca invited Malakai to co-author this article as a way of representing multiple perspectives and deepening understandings about how and why this short-term involvement had such an impact at various levels. Malakai agreed to collaborate in writing the article, and written consent for the publication of this collaborative case reflection and accompanying song recording was provided by Malakai’s mother as well as Malakai himself. Malakai's mother was present throughout all of the article discussions and assisted by providing some further insights about his experiences. The aim of this article is to describe our collaborative reflections from our engagement in music therapy together and to explore the range of conditions at play that contributed to Malakai’s growth and development.
This article presents a collaborative single case reflection exploring the actions and
experiences of a music therapist and a child who participated in music therapy. Scholars
suggest that single case studies have the capacity to provide opportunities for
exploring in depth, unique and context-dependent examples that we can learn from (
Our approach to writing this article is informed by United Nations Conventions of the
Rights of the Child (
Contemporary approaches to music therapy have called for ongoing reflexivity in the
form of ongoing dialogue with participants and communities as well as personal and
critical reflection to address power imbalances (
Over a period of three months, the authors met six times to dialogue about the process that would be described in this article. These meetings took place in Malakai’s family home, which was a decision made based on convenience for the family, travel costs and time, and other younger siblings often being at home during the discussions. The meetings were audio recorded to best represent Malakai’s original wording and Rebecca also took notes throughout these discussions. To assist us to reflect on our experiences, we developed a visual timeline that helped us to represent the different stages of our engagement together, including what happened before, during, and after the sessions. Malakai’s mother was also present for all of the article discussions and was able to assist with providing some additional details and reflections. After each discussion, Rebecca identified the themes that were emerging and created a narrative text of what Malakai had said. She also included descriptions of her own reflections and personal experiences of working with Malakai. Each time Rebecca returned to meet with Malakai and his mother, they read through each of the narratives together and discussed expansions upon the story and clarified pieces of information.
Collaborating with Malakai to write this article was a rare opportunity that should not be underestimated. Malakai’s maturity, resourcefulness, genuine interest in helping people to understand his experiences, and his mother’s support were all factors that made this process possible. In addition, it was important for Rebecca to take responsibility for directing the process, to explain what we were doing in child-friendly ways, to protect Malakai and his family from any harm arising from their involvement, and to provide a collaborative space where Malakai felt that his views were central and that they would be respected and taken seriously. As Malakai had experienced family violence and due to his young age, several strategies were put in place in order to protect Malakai and his families’ confidentiality and safety throughout the process of writing and publishing this article. These protective strategies were discussed in depth with Malakai and decided upon together and they included: using a pseudonym to represent him as an author in the article, not disclosing the location of the organisation where this work took place, not discussing his cultural background, making conscious decisions about the information we chose to include and not include in the article, and using an image drawn by Malakai to represent him visually in the author biographies.
We believe that writing our reflections in this collaborative way provided an opportunity for both of us to decide how we would like to be described and represented. At times, Malakai discussed some sensitive information that he may not have been comfortable sharing in a public forum. Having the opportunity to return to Malakai through the development of this article provided an open forum for having these discussions and allowed Malakai the space to make a conscious decision about what he would like to include.
We also discussed the order that the information would be presented in and the
language that we would use to describe our experiences. These discussions
acknowledged the idea that people come to music therapy with multiple stories and
various reflections on their experiences (
Throughout this section we have included personal reflections from each of our perspectives about various stages of our engagement together, as a way of demonstrating the ways that we approached and learned from this experience. In a traditional research article this section would be titled Results, however as we were writing a collaborative case reflection and exploring our own experiences we felt that the heading Collaborative Reflections was more fitting.
Since I was a little kid, it was my dream to be able to play the drums. I used to get the pots and pans out and play for ages. We always had the radio playing in the car and I used to tap on the back of the seat and pretend I was playing the drums. We used to listen to music all the time as well, and my brother and I used to dance while mum did the cleaning or jobs around the house. As I got older, we sometimes listened to music on the computer but only when we were allowed to. My mum's ex-partner would often get angry at us when we were on there and tell us he was busy and had to use it. It used to be really scary when he started yelling. At this time in my life, I probably spent less time listening to music because I didn't really have any other ways to access it.
When we got to the family violence refuge I started listening to music more because I got mum's old phone when she got a new one from a worker who was helping us. I was searching for ways to get back into music because I really wanted to be able to listen again. I was so excited when I got the phone. I wasn’t able to download any songs to begin with, so I used to listen to 30-second samples off the Internet. After a while, I figured out how to record music off the radio onto my phone and this made it easier to listen to music and I could listen whenever I wanted.
We had to stay at a family violence refuge for about 6 months because my mum’s violent ex-partner had been trying to find us and we had to move around a lot so that we could be safe. It was hard living at the refuge because I had to stay in the same room as my mum and younger siblings. There were some other kids staying there at the same time as us and they would always follow me around and it would get really noisy. It felt like our room was the only place I could go to get away from everyone else. I liked playing with the Lego there and it was a quiet activity that I could do on my own. Sometimes I would get angry when I’d had enough of being at the refuge and I would feel like yelling and smashing things, but I would usually just go into our family room and try to go to sleep. At night I used to get really scared and wake up with a nightmare that he (mum’s ex-partner) had found us and it was really hard to get to sleep because I often thought I could see him in the dark.
I had to start a new school when we moved to the refuge. The only kids at the school that I knew were also living at the refuge and they left after a few weeks. It was really boring at lunchtime because I didn’t really know anyone so I just played by myself most of the time. I really liked doing the sport and art subjects at this school though. They had a school camp but I didn’t want to go because it was a scary thing to me. I was worried about leaving my family and about who would look after mum if I went away. I didn’t really want to socialise much at this time and I just wanted to stay close to my family.
I started working with Malakai after a children’s worker at the refuge referred him to a music therapy group that I run for pre-adolescent children. The children’s worker identified that Malakai liked music and thought that this would be a creative way to engage him, as he didn’t feel comfortable engaging in traditional talk-based therapies. The group had already started and there were unfortunately no vacancies for Malakai to join, however I offered some individual sessions as an alternative. The refuge they were living at was high-security in an undisclosed location, and Malakai’s mother had no car at this stage, so we decided the sessions would commence once they moved into more permanent accommodation.
Malakai’s younger siblings and mother were already attending a group that I run for infants, and Malakai had the day off school one day, so was able to attend with his family. I took the opportunity to talk with him after the session and suggested some of the things we may be able to do together in music therapy. Malakai and his mother talked about how he had always wanted to play the drums, and I suggested that this could be a focus for our sessions and that we may be able to purchase a drum machine through some brokerage funding. He still seemed unsure at this stage about whether he felt comfortable attending sessions with me, but he agreed to try it.
When we were at the refuge, mum and the children’s worker told me that I might be able to do some music sessions with another worker. I said that I didn’t want to at first because I felt too nervous. I thought I would be meeting other people and I didn’t feel ready for that. I got to go to my younger sisters’ music group when I had the day off school. It was cool to see them in the group and how much they loved the music and instruments. I felt shy when Rebecca started talking about doing the music sessions with her. We talked about how I might be able learn to play the drums and I liked the idea of that because it is something I have always wanted to do, but I was still a bit unsure. I ended up just saying “yes” because I felt awkward and it was so quiet while they were waiting for me to make a decision.
Malakai described how music was already an important resource in his life, but it was
clear that he needed some practical assistance so that he could develop these
interests and continue to use music as a way of coping and expressing his emotions. I
suggested that we could apply for funds for a drum machine for Malakai through the
Homeless Children’s Brokerage Program, which is funded under the National Partnership
Agreement on Homelessness and aims to support children to engage in social,
emotional, and recreational opportunities within their community (
I dropped off the drum machine to Malakai when he and his family were in the process of moving into their new house. I remember Malakai being very excited and he instantly set up the drum machine in the lounge room and started to explore the sounds. I also had some instruments for his younger siblings, and there were other workers visiting at the same time, so it was a busy visit. I was only able to briefly show him a basic rock beat on the drums and said I would show him more at our first session the following week. A week later when I returned, Malakai had already mastered the beat I had taught him and showed me a song he had made up using the melodic sounds on the drums. I remember feeling very impressed by how he had progressed in such little time and feeling excited that he had made up his own song without any prompting from me. He talked about having to start another new school and feeling nervous because he doesn’t know anyone there. In the first session we explored a few different drumbeats and played along to a couple of his favourite songs. I was playing the guitar and Malakai was on the drums. While we played, I talked to Malakai about some of the things we might be able to do together in the rest of the sessions and suggested we might be able to write a song together. I remember Malakai was hesitant about this idea and said he wouldn’t know what to write about. We discussed some other songs that he would like to learn next time, and he showed me a few songs he had recorded onto his phone so he could listen to them.
In the second session Malakai initiated a discussion about song writing, saying he had been thinking about the idea of writing a song. Together we brainstormed some ideas for what we could write about. He identified the important things in his life to be family, school, and music. Malakai talked about feeling “normal” around his family and about how they have fun together. He also talked about starting his new school and that he felt “weird” when other kids were misbehaving and swearing at the teacher. Malakai talked about feeling free from everything around him when he is playing or listening to music. He spoke about how he had been using the drums as a way of “cooling down” if he was feeling stressed or angry. Over the next few sessions, we worked together on a range of drumbeats, and he learnt to play along to several different songs. Malakai decided to focus his song on his experience of starting a new school, writing about how it was “stressful” and “hard” to start at a new school. The song explored ways of making new friends and wanting to stick with the right people so he doesn’t get in trouble. For the remainder of the sessions, we worked towards recording this song along with the song he had created by himself on the drums. We created a CD that he could give to his family members.
Throughout the process of working together, Malakai talked about how he had been playing the drums at home when he was feeling angry and he thought this was a helpful way of expressing his emotions. He talked about how he had also been listening to music more when he was having trouble sleeping when he was thinking about other stuff and that he would often listen to calm songs with his headphones, and this would help him go to sleep. Each week, I gradually noticed he became more confident and comfortable to talk about his experiences. He described me as his “drum teacher” when he introduced me to his family members or friends when they were at his house during our sessions. Towards the end of our sessions together, he started to ask for more complicated drumming exercises and was really keen to develop his skills.
I love playing the drums. It feels like magic when I’m playing. When I play at home it’s like no one else exists and it gives me time out from everything else that’s happening. I can just go into my room whenever I’m feeling angry or stressed, and I come out an hour later with a smile on my face. I like being creative and making up my own tunes and beats too. It allows me to do things that I’ve never done before and I get so excited to show my mum what I have learnt.
We moved into a new house and I started a new school at around the same time that I got the drum machine. We had just been on a family camp and it was really fun so I was feeling pretty happy. A couple weeks after starting at the new school, I asked my teacher if I could bring the drums to school one day to show my class. I wanted to show them my skills and my personality as a drummer. I showed everyone how I could play on the drums and also showed them a song I made up. Everyone seemed pretty impressed at what I could do and asked me to have a turn on the drums. Later on at lunchtime lots of kids came up to me to talk about the drums. I think that bringing the drums to school shared a part of myself with the kids at school and this helped me to make new friends. I also realised there’s another kid at school who plays the drums, so we often play together now. If I hadn’t gotten the drums, I think that my life would be so boring. I don't think that I would have been able to make as many friends at my new school because at my old school, no one wanted to talk to me and I never wanted to do anything.
I’ve also been showing my mum how to play the drums. Every week after my session with Rebecca, mum would ask me to show her what I’ve learnt. It made me feel happy to be the teacher, and it makes me imagine what it would be like to be a grown up and to be teaching other people.
Throughout the process of working with Malakai, it became clear that he and his mother had a very strong relationship and shared a lot of similar interests. Malakai’s mother always seemed to offer a lot of support and encouragement to Malakai and would let me know of his achievements each week, such as winning events in the school athletics or being chosen to play the drums at school assembly. She told me how she loved listening to Malakai playing the drums and how she would often ask him to take off the headphones while he was practicing so that she could listen too. While we were in the process of writing this article, she reflected on how her father used to play the guitar to her when she was little, and since the music therapy sessions were over she had been trying to teach one of these songs to Malakai on the guitar. I sensed that her active engagement in Malakai’s life greatly contributed to his growth throughout my time working with him.
I think the sessions helped me to learn how to play the drums. I always felt really happy afterwards. I wish that I could have had more sessions because I was really disappointed when it ended. I wanted to be able to develop my skills more. But even though I wish I could have continued with the sessions, I’m still able to be involved in music in other ways. I’ve joined the brass band at school now and we're also learning drums at school next term. At home, I also like to drum along to music videos and to look up drummers on YouTube®. I think I'm more confident now and I feel more comfortable to move on from things that happened in the past.
There is a growing body of literature focusing on young people’s use of music as a
health resource and the exploration of music’s potential to regulate emotions and
promote wellbeing (
Traditionally,
The music therapy sessions provided some of the conditions for Malakai to develop his musical identity and his musical skills. Yet, it was Malakai himself who generated many of the conditions for growth outside of the sessions via creating opportunities for connecting with others through music. For example, Malakai's independent decision to take the drum machine to school to show his classmates demonstrates his agency and active engagement in the therapeutic process. This event happened early in the therapeutic process, so we had not even discussed the idea of sharing his music with others in our sessions. Hence this moment was a crucial part of Malakai’s story and provided him with many opportunities as a result such as connecting with new friends and finding out about music programs available at his new school.
The support provided by Malakai’s mother throughout our engagement together was an
important part of this story. A key protective factor for the development of resilience
is having caring, trusting and supportive relationships within and outside the family
(
While participatory research with children has flourished over recent years, there are
still gaps in the literature about everyday experiences and personal reflections from
children’s perspectives (
The opportunity for co-writing this article emerged organically out of a discussion following our involvement in music therapy together. Engaging in collaborative writing with young people requires a negotiation of the underlying power dynamics that exist between a therapist and participant in music therapy, as well as the imbalances that are inherently present between an adult and a child who is ultimately dependent on familial and systemic structures to protect him and keep him safe. Therefore, it was crucial in the early stages to emphasise the collaborative nature of this project, by recognising Malakai as an equal contributor to the project and that we discussed the ways that his views and perspectives were central to the entire development of the article. It is important to note that writing the article together was not about achieving a general consensus about what had happened, but more so to represent both of our experiences and to explore the evolving process of engaging musically together, as well as what occurred outside of the sessions. In addition, it was important that the process of engaging Malakai was meaningful and mutually empowering.
While we were working together to write the article, we discussed some of the ways that
we could provide a keepsake for Malakai to remember what he had shared in a creative and
child-centred way. We decided to write a song together that summarised Malakai’s
experience of learning to play the drums and developing as a person throughout the
process of music therapy. Songwriting is a method that many music therapists use in
their everyday practice as a way of helping people to tell their stories and to talk
about their own experiences. Songwriting creates opportunities for people to develop,
discover, or reinforce a sense of self and personal identity (
Reflecting on our experiences and writing this article collaboratively together has impacted us both in various ways. Writing this article together allowed us to consider the ways that we wanted to be represented and provided an opportunity for us to explore which stories we felt were important to tell to help readers understand our experiences. Therefore, what emerged is a narrative account about how learning to play the drums in music therapy provided a way of fostering Malakai’s relationship with music, developing new ways of coping, and making connections with his family and peers. However, as we have discussed, it was the interplay of what happened within as well as outside of the music therapy sessions that contributed to Malakai’s growth and development throughout this time. As a music therapist working in the family violence system and as a child receiving support from this system we are very aware of the challenges that many children and families experience, however we know that this is only one part of their story. We hope that through sharing our collaborative reflections we have provided an alternative representation of children and ways of working with them so that we can provide them with the best opportunity to rebuild their lives through fostering their resources.
Child-selected pseudonym to protect the families’ safety and confidentiality