The Great Reveal: The Experiences of a Registered Music Therapist with a disability: an arts-based research project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v20i1.2873Keywords:
disability, disabled identity, lived experience, disclosure, music therapy, arts-based researchAbstract
Disability is a human phenomenon experienced not by a small minority but a large percentage of our global population. Disability is encountered by people of all ethnicities, religions, genders (and non-conforming), sexualities, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages. Recent music therapy literature has advocated for a diverse workforce and others describe the value in music therapists adopting an intersectional lens, which considers the interconnectedness of social and political identities. However, there is limited dialogue featuring lived experiences of music therapists of underrepresented identities, such as disability. This research sought to canvass the experiences of Australian Registered Music Therapists who identify as having a disability and to explore how their disability may impact or inform their practice. One Australian Registered Music Therapist (RMT) who identified as disabled was interviewed. The student-researcher engaged with arts-based research through music composition to allow an embodied analysis and to present results in an accessible format. Several themes were revealed, including; hidden disability, disclosure of disability, alliance, positive transference, visibility, and identity. These findings demonstrate the importance of lived experiences in the music therapy community and calls to amplify diverse voices of those with disabilities and other intersecting identities within our profession. Acknowledging the work of disabled music therapists may further challenge ableist attitudes in our society and provide options to participants who might prefer to work with therapists who have relevant lived experience.
References
Abbott, D. (2018). Trauma, disability and the “Wounded Healer”. Music and medicine, an interdisciplinary journal, 10(3).
Australian Music Therapy Association Inc. (2014). Code of Ethics. https://www.austmta.org.au/system/files/Code%20of%20Ethics%202014.pdf.
Baines, S. (2013). Music therapy as an anti-oppressive practice. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(1), 1-5, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.09.003.
Bakan, M. (2014). Ethnomusicological perspectives on autism, neurodiversity, and music therapy. Voices: A World Forum For Music Therapy, 14(3), https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v14i3.799.
Barone, T., & Eisner, E. W. (2012). Arts based research. Oaks Cal: Sage Publications Inc.
Bell, A. P. (2017). (dis)Ability and music education: Paralympian Patrick Anderson and the experience of disability in music. Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education, 16(3), 108-128, https://doi.org/10.22176/act16.3.108.
Boggan, C. E., Grzanka, P. R., & Bain, C. L. (2018). Perspectives on queer music therapy: A qualitative analysis of music therapists' reactions to radically inclusive practice. Journal of Music Therapy, 54(4), 375-404, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thx016.
Bruscia, K. E. (2014). Defining music therapy,. Dallas: Barcelona Publishers.
Cameron, C. (2014). Does disability studies have anything to say to music therapy? And would music therapy listen if it did? Voices: A World Forum For Music Therapy, 14(3), https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v14i3.794.
Campbell, F. K. (2009). Contours of ableism. [electronic resource]; The production of disability and abledness. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230245181.
Charlton, J. I. (2000). Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment. University of California Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.
Churchill, W. N. (2015). Deaf and hard-of-hearing musicians: Crafting a narrative strategy. Research Studies in Music Education, 37(1), 21-36, https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x15589777.
Clare, E. (2017). Brilliant imperfection: Grappling with cure. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373520.
Côté, J. E., & Levine, C. (2002). Identity formation, agency, and culture: a social psychological synthesis. L. Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410612199.
Draycott, J. (2019). On a limb. History Today, 69(3), 72-83.
Dunn, D. S., & Andrews, E. E. (2015). Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists' cultural competence using disability language. American Psychologist, 70(3), 255-264, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038636.
Finlay, L. (2002). Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice. Qualitative Research, 2(2), 209-230, https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410200200205.
Fitzpatrick, S. J., & River, J. (2018). Beyond the medical model: Future directions for suicide intervention services. International Journal of Health Services, 1(189), https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731417716086.
Grandin, T., & Panek, R. (2013). The autistic brain: Thinking across the spectrum. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Gross, R. (2018). The Social model of disability and music therapy: Practical suggestions for the emerging clinical practitioner. Voices: A World Forum For Music Therapy, 18(1), https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v18i1.958.
Hadley, S. (2013). Dominant narratives: Complicity and the need for vigilance in the creative arts therapies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(4), 373-381, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2013.05.007.
Hadley, S., & Thomas, N. (2018). Critical humanism in music therapy: Imagining the possibilities. Music Therapy Perspectives, 36(2), 168-174, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miy015.
Haegele, J. A., & Hodge, S. (2016). Disability discourse: Overview and critiques of the medical and social models. Quest, 68(2), 193-206, https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2016.1143849.
Hernandez-Wolfe, P., Killian, K., Engstrom, D., & Gangsei, D. (n.d.). Vicarious resilience, vicarious trauma, and awareness of equity in trauma work. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 55(2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1177%252F0022167814534322
Hill, C. E., Knox, S., & Pinto-Coelho, K. G. (2018). Therapist self-disclosure and immediacy: A qualitative meta-analysis. Psychotherapy, 55(4), 445-460, https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000182.
Hirschmann, N. J. (2013). Disability, feminism, and intersectionability. Radical Philosophy Review, 16(2), 649-662, https://doi.org/10.5840/radphilrev201316247.
Hollomotz, A. (2012). Disability, oppression and violence: Towards a sociological explanation. Sociology, 47(3), 477-493, https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512448561.
Kafer, A. (2013). Feminist, queer, crip. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Laes, C., Goodey, C. F., & Rose, M. L. (2013). Disabilities in Roman antiquity. [electronic resource]: Disparate bodies, a capite ad calcem. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unimelb/detail.action?docID=1214122.
Lerner, N. W., & Straus, J. N. (2006). Sounding off. [electronic resource]: theorizing disability in music. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Linton, S., Mello, S., & O’Neill, J. (1995). Disability studies: Expanding the Parameters of diversity. The Radical Teacher, 4(47), https://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu/ojs/radicalteacher.
Liudmila, K., & Lejla, V. (2014). Insider research method: The significance of identities in the field. SAGE Publications.
Lubet, A. (2011). Music, disability, and society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Lyons, B. J., Volpone, S. D., Wessel, J. L., & Alonso, N. M. (2017). Disclosing a disability: Do strategy type and onset controllability make a difference? Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(9), 1375-1383, https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000230.
Markin, R. D., McCarthy, K. S., & Barber, J. P. (2013). Transference, countertransference, emotional expression, and session quality over the course of supportive expressive therapy: The raters' perspective. Psychotherapy Research, 23(2), 152-168, https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2012.747013.
McCruer, R. (2006). Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability. New York University Press.
Medcalf, L., & Skewes McFerran, K. (2016). A critical interpretive synthesis of music therapy case studies: Examining therapeutic boundary themes in the context of contemporary practice. British Journal of Music Therapy, 30(1), 22-35, https://doi.org/10.1177/1359457516639556.
Mingus, M. (2010). Interdependency (excerpts from several talks). Retrieved from https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/interdependency-exerpts-from-several-talks.
Mykitiuk, R., Chaplick, A., & Rice, C. (2015). Methodology: Beyond normative ethics: Ethics of arts-based disability research. Ethics, Medicine And Public Health, 1, 373-382, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2015.07.005.
Préfontaine, J. (2006). On becoming a music therapist. Voices: A World Forum For Music Therapy, 6(2), https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v6i2.255.
Radić-Šestić, M., Ostojić, S., & Đoković, S. (2015). Attitude of deaf culture toward cochlear implantation. Specijalna Edukacija I Rehabilitacija, 14(1), 101-124, https://doi.org/10.5937/specedreh1-7156.
Reed, K. S., Meade, M., Jarnecke, M., Rumrill, P., Krause, J. S., Koch, L. C., & Rumrill, P. D. (2017). Disclosing disability in the employment setting: Perspectives from workers with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 47(2), 175-184, https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-170893.
Riddle, C. A. (2013). Defining disability: metaphysical not political. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 16(3), 377-384, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-012-9405-9.
Rolvsjord, R. (2010). Resource-oriented Music Therapy in Mental Health Care. Dallas: Barcelona Publishers.
Sajnani, N. (2013). The body politic: The relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research in drama therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(4), 382-385, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2013.05.001.
Senghas, R., & Monaghan, L. (2002). Signs of their times: Deaf communities and the culture of language. Annual Review Of Anthropology, 69, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.31.020402.101302.
Sevinc, N. (2010). In/visibility of identities and identity politics: The case of invisible disabilities.
Shakespeare, T. (2018). Disability: the basics. Routledge.
Shaw, C. M. (2019). Developing post-ableist music therapy: An autoethnography exploring the counterpoint of a therapist experiencing illness/disability (Doctoral dissertation). New Zealand School of Music, Te Kōkī / Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10063/8247.
Shyman, E. (2016). The reinforcement of ableism: Normality, the medical model of disability, and humanism in applied behavior analysis and ASD. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 54(5), 366-376, https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-54.5.366.
Snyder, S., & Mitchell, D. (2001). Re-engaging the body: Disability studies and the resistance to embodiment. Public Culture, 3(367), https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-13-3-367.
Stige, B., & Aarø, L. E. (2012). Invitation to community music therapy. New York & London: Routledge.
Thomsen, C. (2015). The Post-raciality and post-spatiality of calls for LGBTQ and Disability visibility. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, 30(1), 149-166.
Tsiris, G. (2013). Voices from the ‘ghetto’: Music therapy perspectives on disability and music (A response to Joseph Straus’s book Extraordinary Measures: Disability in Music). International Journal of Community Music, 6(3), 333-343, https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm.6.3.333_1.
Viega, M. (2016a). Aesthetic sense and sensibility: Arts-based research and music therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 34(1), 1-3, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miw010.
Viega, M. (2016b). Science as art: Axiology as a central component in methodology and evaluation of arts-based research (ABR). Music Therapy Perspectives, 1(4).
Viega, M., & Forinash, M. (2016). Arts-Based Research. In K. Murphy & B. Wheeler (Eds.), Music therapy research (3rd ed., pp. 980-1006). Dallas: Barcelona Publishers.
von Schrader, S., Malzer, V., & Bruyère, S. (2013). Perspectives on disability disclosure: the importance of employer practices and workplace climate. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 26(4), 237-255, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-013-9227-9.
Warren, P., & Rickson, D. (2016). What factors shape a music therapist?: An investigation of music therapists' professional identity over time in New Zealand. Journal of Music Therapy, 14, 55-81.
Wheeler, B. L., & Baker, F. A. (2010). Influences of music therapists’ worldviews on work in different countries. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37(3), 215-227, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2010.04.006.
Yeh, M. A., Jewell, R. D., & Thomas, V. L. (2017). The stigma of mental illness: Using segmentation for social change. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 36(1), 97-116, https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.13.125.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Zoe Kalenderidis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Articles published prior to 2019 are subject to the following license, see: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/copyright
