Fostering Intimacy through Musical Beginnings: Exploring the Application of Communicative Musicality Through the Musical Experience of Parents in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Auteurs-es

  • Elizabeth McLean The University of Melbourne

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v16i2.874

Mots-clés :

communicative musicality, intimacy, parents, music therapy, musical moments, NICU

Résumé

This paper explores the powerful role of musical moments in fostering intimacy for parents and their hospitalised infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Grounded in Malloch & Trevarthen’s theory of communicative musicality (2010a), a critical and contemporary perspective on this theory underpinning early musical interactions is presented, advocating for greater exploration of the parents’ perspective to support a deepened understanding of the potential of music for supporting intimacy in the beginnings of life. Two case vignettes from my doctoral research illustrate how shared musical moments can foster intimacy for the hospitalised infant and parent in a NICU, calling for consideration of context and culture when exploring how musical beginnings can foster intimacy.

Biographie de l'auteur-e

Elizabeth McLean, The University of Melbourne

Elizabeth McLean is Registered Music Therapist and current PhD candidate at the National Music Therapy Research Unit (NaMTRU), The University of Melbourne.Elizabeth works as a music therapist with hospitalised, premature infants and families within the NICU and special care nursery settings in a metropolitan tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia.Elizabeth’s current doctoral research focuses on exploring parents’ experiences and perceptions of singing and using their voice with their premature baby in a neonatal unit, while also exploring the connection between a parent’s musical interactions with their baby and emerging parental identity in a neonatal unit.

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Publié-e

2016-04-04

Comment citer

McLean, E. (2016). Fostering Intimacy through Musical Beginnings: Exploring the Application of Communicative Musicality Through the Musical Experience of Parents in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v16i2.874

Numéro

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2016): Special Issue on "How Music Can Change Your Life and the World"

Rubrique

Position Papers

Licence

Articles published prior to 2019 are subject to the following license, see: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/copyright