Carolyn Kenny devoted much of her career to the development of music therapy theory. Her method can be described as a “reflective synthesis” of knowledge and practice in music therapy and related disciplines, and of her own personal experiences with clients.
My approach to the task at hand is reflective. My scholarship has informed me, but no more than my direct experience with clients. I have been influenced by powerful thoughts of eloquent scholars. I have attempted to finely tune my ability to discern categories. I have studied the major intellectual influences of our time and the historical contexts of movements of thought. I release them all. I surrender my thoughts to Debbie, Jack, Robyn, Maggie, Mable and many other patients and client in my clinical work life.
In her first book,
These new constructs necessitated an even larger sphere for music therapy than those
explored in
The
The value of a loving and supportive field which has its goal the creation of beauty
seems to me a simple human idea which is clear and unequivocal for any type of
development, therapeutic or otherwise (
This loving and supportive field is the source from which all other fields in the system unfold, and in music therapy, it unfolds in sound. Briefly, Kenny’s field of play theory proposed that there are seven fields essential to music therapy.
The aesthetic: a field or environment containing the conditions of beauty, including the human being. This is the loving and supportive field that resources all others.
The musical space: the contained space that arises out of the aesthetic when therapist and client relate to one another through music.
The field of play: the open field that arises out of the aesthetic field and the musical space, and which expands into a field of experimentation, play, and modeling. The field of play contains four interactive fields, as follows:
Ritual: any repeatable form created through the conditions present at the time.
A particular state of consciousness: a field of relaxation, concentration, and playfulness.
Power: the field of energy that motivates receptivity and induces action
Creative Process: the process and field that results from the interplay and overlaps of the previous fields.
These fields are environments that have varying conditions, and which operate in an organic ecology according to certain principles. When the fields overlap, or when elements or conditions interact, a relationship emerges, and a new field is created.
Because Kenny had been building a general theory of music therapy, not tied to specific
methods or populations, her constructs were quite broad, and she carefully avoided defining
or classifying the various fields and conditions in a way that that would violate their
characteristic openness. Nevertheless, in a continuing attempt to communicate her theory,
Kenny (
I have identified specific qualities which are characteristic of each of the seven
fields. They may be characteristic. But they do not allow me to “operationalize” the
fields. However, they do allow me to say something to my colleagues about how I
recognize the fields, how they distinguish themselves from each other. For example, in
the “aesthetic,” an important quality of the field is
In a subsequent publication (
Throughout these years of theorizing, Kenny often reminded herself of her own indigenous
roots. Her mother was a Choctaw American Indian. These roots enabled Kenny to call upon the
wisdom of the Native world to inform and enlarge her ways of thinking about music therapy.
She also continued to “return home”, that is, to focus her talents and skills to bettering
the lives of peoples in her own culture and her own community. In carrying out this work,
she rediscovered the centrality of spirit, play, art and healing in indigenous or “first
nation” peoples (
Finally, Kenny (
Kenny was bold and brave—personally and professionally. She approached the task of theorizing with awe while also recognizing that we must not be daunted by the intricacies of our personal, cultural, and professional worlds. She taught us that we must honor their vastness and elusiveness, while also daring to describe them in ways that bring a better understanding of life, as both human and spirit.
She left us too soon, but her concepts will endure. As a colleague and friend, I will greatly miss her daring.